Tag Archives: Superman

#3879: Superman – Movie

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

SUPERMAN — MOVIE

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE TOYS)

This month is shaping up to a pretty solid one in terms of super hero movie coverage, with offerings from both Marvel and DC hitting in the next four weeks, both aiming to refresh the companies’ respective cinematic universes.  DC is up to bat first, with their latest attempt at bringing Superman to the big screen.  There’s a pretty decent product push for this one, in contrast to the last several DC movie projects, allowing you to get Big Blue and his supporting cast in several different styles.  McFarlane’s got both 7-inch and Super Powers figures, and if you know anything about me, you can probably guess which direction I leaned on that split.  So, without further ado, here’s another Super Powers Superman!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman (Movie) is part of the 12th assortment of McFarlane’s Super Powers line, which is an entire assortment dedicated to the movie.  While Super Powers has never done direct movie tie-ins previously, there were plans to do some loosely tied-in items for the Reeve movies in the Kenner days, and both Kenner and Toy Biz would use derivatives of the original molds for figures tying into the Keaton Batman movies, so it’s not entirely unprecedented.  Given the aim of the film to be more classically comic-inspired, it also seems to fit with this movie specifically.  The figure stands a little over 4 1/2 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  At his core, he’s the same as the updated classic Superman, which makes a lot of sense.  I do really like this base body, and there’s no denying that it feels like a good extension of the vintage Kenner stuff.  He gets a new head, belt, and boots in order to help make him more in line with the new movie design.  The head is clearly modeled on Corenswet, but it’s not a direct likeness, instead being kind of merged with a more traditional Superman look, for something more “style guide” appropriate.  It does seem perhaps a touch too large for the body, but not to a ridiculous extent.  The new boots and belt modify the body to bring it more in line with the modified suit design, but still keep things a little more stripped down and clean than the actual on-screen design, which I think works a little better for the line.  He’s also got a cloth cape, which I find myself liking a lot more than previous ones; the neck clasp seems to have been made a slightly less odd shape, so it sits in place better.  His paint work is decent enough.  I like the distinct color palette, as it helps him stand out more from the other Supermen.  There’s a little bit of slop/bleedover, but nothing super noteworthy.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

At this point, I really am just kind of buying all of the remaining McFarlane Super Powers, in part because I just keep enjoying them, and in part because I know we’ve only got so long before there are again no more.  I wasn’t sure about movie figures, but at the same time, I knew I wanted figures from the movie, and I also knew that I’d want new Super Powers, so I guess it does sort of work out well.  Since Clark himself sold out almost immediately most places, I resorted to ordering him from GameStop, who have remained my most reliable source for these guys.  He’s neat, and I like him a lot.

#3859: Superman – The Silver Age

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

SUPERMAN — THE SILVER AGE

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE)

As we head into a year that will headline the latest Superman movie, we’re really seeing a turnaround on Superman related product.  After several years of some lackluster offerings, it’s kind of nice to see the new direction.  McFarlane’s run with the DC license started off with a heavy bat-focus, but in its final year, the company is really taking some steps to do some more interesting and exciting things for people who like the non-Bat side of the DC Universe.  We’ve been slowly getting some proper classic variants on the heavy hitters, and really the last hold out on that was the Man of Steel himself!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman — The Silver Age is part of the fourth “Digital” assortment of DC Multiverse figures, alongside Dr. Fate and Two-Face.  Officially, these are all under the “DC Direct” branding, but they’re clearly the same line as what’s coming directly from McFarlane.  So, one thing of note, if I can be a little pedantic for a moment: this figure is billed “The Silver Age,” when in fact he’s clearly meant to based on the artwork of Jose Garcia-Lopez.  That would *actually* make him a Bronze Age Superman, not Silver Age.  I won’t complain about getting a solid classic Superman either way, and in fact I *prefer* a Bronze Age Superman, but you know, call it what it is, right?  Okay, moving on.  The figure stands 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  This Superman is another use of the Earth 2 Superman mold from the Crisis set, which has become McFarlane’s new standard for the Man of Steel.  It’s not hard to understand why; it’s a really solid, balanced, and clean Superman mold, and it’s by far the best version they’ve offered up during their run with the license.  This figure sports a new head sculpt, directly based on Garcia-Lopez’s drawings of the character.  It’s quite a strong sculpt.  Previous sculpts based on specific artists have struggled to really capture the feel, instead kind of forcing a bit of a “Todd” style on them, but this one is just pretty straight Garcia-Lopez, and it works really well, and also fits well on the base body.  The color work is quite bright, as it should be, and the paint work, which is mostly confined to the head and torso, is pretty sharp.  I especially like the slight accenting on the hair; it feels very true to this particular take on the character.  Superman is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and flat (same as the others on this base body), and a display stand.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

Look, this many McFarlane Superman reviews in, you guys have to get the general gist of where this one is going, right?  When McFarlane started with the license, and they put out that first Action Comics #1000 Superman, and it was just mediocre at best, I sort of wrote it off that we weren’t going to get a good Superman, and that was true for a bit.  But then, all of the sudden, they just kept getting better.  And now I own four of them, and they’re all great.  This one in particular does feel really definitive, though.  Like, I just look at it and think “yeah, that’s just Superman, as he’s meant to be.”  Which is one heck of a recovery from a company that started with the Superman that McFarlane did.  Crazy to see them get it so together *right* before they lose the license, but if nothing else, they gave us this genuinely fantastic Superman figure.

#3831: Superman – Classic Animation (1940)

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

SUPERMAN — CLASSIC ANIMATION (1940)

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE)

Back to DC?  So soon?  Well, I regret to inform you that it’s *not* Super Powers today.  But, I do think it’s still pretty cool, and it concerns one of my other areas of interest, animation!  I’ve touched only briefly on Fleischer Studios here on the site.  They were a pioneer in the field of animation, rivaling Disney during the golden age, and in many ways beating them to the punch on a lot of things.  They had a great deal of success with their in-house properties, but also got into the adaptation game in 1933, when they began a run of shorts starring Popeye.  In 1941, their main financial backer Paramount had purchased the rights to Superman, and proposed a series of animated theatrical shorts.  Not initially wanting to take on the gig, Fleischer asked for an insane $100,000 a short, but when Paramount countered at $50,000, they accepted.  The result was not only one of the finest pieces of animation to come out of the golden age, but also an incredibly influential take on the title character, inspiring the likes of Alex Ross and Bruce Timm, as well as adding the power of flight to the character’s roster of abilities.  The rights for the shorts have been all over the place, and they ultimately went into the public domain back in the ’60s. Toy coverage for the shorts has been generally scarce. Mezco did a 5Points set a few years ago, and there was a statue from DC Direct. It’s McFarlane that finally gave us some figure coverage, first as a Super Powers redeco, and now as a proper 7-inch figure.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman is a standard-sized release from McFarlane’s DC Multiverse line.  He’s not a single, instead being rolled into a larger assortment with a couple of unrelated characters.  Though referred to by *everyone* as “Fleischer Superman,” he’s officially titled “Classic Animation (1940),” with no specific studio mention.  In a way, this actually makes him more accurate than you might think, as only 9 of the 17 shorts were actually produced by Fleischer, with the other 8 being done by their successors at Famous Studios after Fleischer dissolved.  On the flipside, though, it specifies 1940, when the cartoons didn’t start their run until 1940.  Also, all the illustrations are specifically comic-based, so the whole thing is likely some sort of legal thing.  The figure stands 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 37 points of articulation.  Superman is built on the Earth-2 Superman mold from the Crisis set.  He was originally shown on the Action Comics #1000 mold, which isn’t great, but Todd actually listened to fan feedback and moved him to the more recent set-up.  I gotta say, I really like it.  It’s quite clean and the proportions are pretty well balanced.  It also especially works for this era of the character.  He gets a new head sculpt, which is quite solid.  It’s a good match for the animation, not being too simple or too detailed, and it sits really well on the body.  He gets a cloth cape, which is fairly similar to the one on the Reeve Superman.  It’s a solid work, and the wires are quite strong, which is great for posing.  His color work does a pretty respectable job matching up to the colors from the cartoons.  The paint’s a bit minimal, but it does what it needs to.  I particularly like the squinty eyes.  Superman is packed with two sets of hands, in fists and flat, as well as a display stand and a card with decidedly not Fleischer Superman on it.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’m a huge Fleischer fan, because, as noted above, I’m something of an animation geek.  The Superman cartoons are really their finest work, and remain favorites of mine.  I almost went for the Mezco figures, but they were out of my price range at the time they jumped.  I got the Super Powers figure, and he’s fine, but not really on the mark.  This one was one I knew I wanted immediately.  He’s genuinely the best Superman McFarlane’s put on the market, though that’s admittedly a more loaded statement than it used to be, because suddenly they figured out to make a Superman right before the end?  I don’t know, but I’m loving it.

#3810: Superman – Fleischer

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

SUPERMAN — FLEISCHER

SUPER POWERS (McFARLANE)

And we are back with the Super Powers reviews, something that I find thoroughly entertaining.  With the news that Mattel will be regaining the license for DC in 2026, we’re now up in the air as to exactly how much more Super Powers there might be, but I guess right now I’m just still reveling in what we’ve got.  Today, we’re back to retreading on characters that already had coverage.  Since the beginning of his run with the license, McFarlane’s had some difficulties getting a solid Superman out at any scale, and Super Powers was no exception.  We’ve officially gotten a good Superman from the line now, but there was a lot of time before that one, so, um, here’s one of those?

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman – Fleischer was released in Series 8 of McFarlane’s Super Powers.  He’s one of the two unannounced “secret” variants that they did for this assortment, the other one being DKR Batman.  Both are just simple repaints of the original molds.  In Superman’s case, he’s meant to evoke his design from the Fleischer Studios movie serials.  It’s…well, it’s a mixed bag.  The figure stands about 4 3/4 inches tall and he has 7 points of articulation.  Since this figure was released one series before the introduction of the new Superman mold, he’s using the Series 1 version, which, I’ll be honest, isn’t a favorite.  It’s too tall, pigeon toed, and I’m not much of a fan of the “Todd-ized” head sculpt.  It’s very clearly not meant to be the Fleischer model, so it affects how well it works.  With all that said, I’ll admit, I’ve warmed up to this one over time.  It’s not great, but it’s not awful.  His cape clasp is notably a better fit this time around, but the cape is definitely on the long side for this version of the character.  In terms of the color work, he honestly does alright.  The face paint’s a lot cleaner than earlier versions, and the eyes are decidedly less wonky.  I also do like the general color palette, as well as how the insignia has turned out.  The only down side is that the dye on the cape has stained the figure’s shoulders, which is a real bummer.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I’ve done my best to avoid this mold up to this point.  I didn’t love it when it first hit, and I haven’t loved any of its subsequent uses.  But, I do really like the Fleischer look, and it’s rare on the toy front, so I was interested, if perhaps bummed by the mold choice.  I got the opportunity to see it in person, and opted to give it a try.  It’s better than I expected.  The mold’s still got its drawbacks, but they make the best with what they’ve got.  If nothing else, he’s nifty.

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.

#3783: Superman – 1978

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

SUPERMAN — 1978

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE TOYS)

Oh man, two whole Superman reviews, in the same week?  That’s crazy, right?  Well, maybe not so much, I guess.  I do like Superman, so I have a few of them shuffling around.  Also, I had the DCUC one on the schedule before I even knew when I’d be getting this one in-hand, so, you know, less than intentional.  And that one was comics-based, whereas this one is based on Christopher Reeve’s iconic turn in the role, starting with 1978’s Superman: The Movie.  Reeve is a defining in the role of Superman much in he same way that Superman himself was defining for super heroes as a whole.  Neither Reeve, nor the first of his films, really has a true equal.  Figure coverage of Reeve has increased notably in more recent years, but he’s still a little more on the scarce side, especially for more conventional offerings.  Five years into their run with the license, McFarlane has added Reeve’s Superman to the main DC line-up.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman – 1978 Movie is figure #25 in the Collector Edition sub-line of DC Multiverse, and hit in the area of right at the end of last year, right at the beginning of this year.  There were two versions, the standard and a Platinum Edition based on his evil counterpart from Superman III.  The one seen here is the standard, but the only difference between the two is the deco.  The figure stands just shy of 7 1/2 inches tall and he has 39 points of articulation.  The sculpt on this guy looks to be an all-new one, though I’m not 100% sure.  The initial shots of this one didn’t wow me, so I wasn’t sure about how it would look in hand.  I have to say, it actually looks a lot better in person than I’d expected it to.  It’s a little tricky to get it to photograph well, but it genuinely looks good.  Aside from the rather strange look of the elbows when they’re bent, the articulation scheme is solid, and he’s got a good range of motion.  The head sculpt has a pretty respectable Reeve likeness.  It’s not exactly lifelike, and there’s a bit of caricature to it to better adhere it to the rest of the line’s stylings, but it’s pretty clear who it’s meant to be, and it captures the spirit of the character nicely.  The body sculpt is pretty basic for the most part, apart from that slightly odd extra bit of detailing on the wrists, and has a decent enough set of proportions, which match well with Reeve’s build.  He’s got a cloth cape with wires running through for full posability.  I actually really, really like the cape.  The wires are really strong, and hold up very well, adding a lot of options for posing him.  Superman’s color work is appropriately bright and colorful.  It’s heavy on molded colors, but the paint work that’s there is generally pretty clean, and the face is pretty lifelike.  Superman is packed with a pretty impressive selection of accessories.  He gets an extra head, 10 hands (pair of fists, pair of flat, pair of loose grip, pair of open gesture, a pointing right, and a left holding the Kryptonian crystal), a flight stand, and a card.  The alternate head is clearly meant to be used for the alternate color scheme, and looks slightly odd on the classic colors, but it’s got a good Reeve likeness.  The hands add a ton of posing options, and the flight stand is always a good addition.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

As I noted in the main body, I wasn’t really wowed by the prototype shots for this guy, so I went in with low expectations.  McFarlane struggling to get us a decent Superman at all in this scale just furthered that argument.  In hand he looked good.  Out of the box, he’s even better.  This is genuinely a great figure, start to finish, and just one of my very favorite McFarlane offerings.  I didn’t expect it to blow the NECA figure out of the water, but it kind of does.

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.

#3780: Superman

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

SUPERMAN

DC UNIVERSE CLASSICS (MATTEL)

It’s time for more of the review subject gift that keeps on giving, DC Universe Classics.  I’m taking a break from this month’s general theme with DCUC of Hal Jordans and Green Lanterns, because why not.  Also, because it’s Superman, and I realized all this time in I hadn’t reviewed the basic DCUC Superman, which seems like something of an oversight.  So, let’s fix that particular oversight and get him done now!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

There was a strange path of release to this particular figure, and I’m gonna break that down here.  Since DC Universe Classics spun out of the somewhat similarly designed DC Super Heroes line, Mattel didn’t immediately put out a new classic Superman.  The first Supes was in Series 2, and it was Superman Blue, with a Superman Red variant.  Eradicator got released in the exceptionally hard to get Walmart-exclusive Series 5, and had some more classic Supes vibes, but his classic Supes head had red eyes.  Series 6 was set to have regeneration suit Superman as the standard and classic suit with the long hair as the variant, but those got swapped before release, so we had something slightly approximating a classic Superman.  Then we got a two pack release with the standard costume and the short haired head from Eradicator, but the eyes were still red, so still not classic.  Classic costume with classic hair and classic eyes would finally get its release in the first Walmart Exclusive five-pack in 2009.  That same figure later got a single “World’s Greatest Super Heroes” release and two-pack releases with a repack of the DCSH Parasite and a recolored MOTUC He-Man, all in 2010.  So, finally a standard Superman, and four ways to get him.  I bought mine loose, so I couldn’t tell you which particular release it was, but they’re all effectively the same.  The figure stands 6 1/2 inches tall and he has 23 points of articulation.  He used a variation of the standard-most male body, with the Eradicator head, and the Superman specific cape, belt, and calves.  Generally, they’re pretty good parts.  The head’s maybe a touch long, and the cape sits a little odd on the shoulders, but that’s really all I’ve got on those fronts.  He certainly reads well as a classic Superman.  The color work is okay.  The paint gets a little sloppy, especially on the yellow/red change-overs.  The logo is a little thin, I feel, and the blue always struck me as the slightest bit too dark.  I believe the WGSH release gave this guy one of the blue oval stands, but otherwise, he was never given any extras that I know of.  Mine’s got nothing, but it’s Superman, so I guess your options are a bit more limited.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I wanted this figure, but I didn’t really want a multipack to get him, and I managed to never see the single release at retail.  I ended up finally getting a loose one off eBay, back in 2011 I believe.  I was trying to fill out my JLA roster, and being as close as I was the the Satellite era roster, I really needed this guy.  Ultimately, he’s not a crazy good, defining piece for the character or the line, but it was a solid version of an essential character, filling out the roster of a pretty solid line.

#3751: Superman – Our Worlds at War

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

SUPERMAN — OUR WORLDS AT WAR

DC MULTIVERSE (McFARLANE TOYS)

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#3737: Superman

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

SUPERMAN

SUPER POWERS (MCFARLANE)

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

THE FIGURE ITSELF

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

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

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

#3641: Superman – Man of Steel

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

SUPERMAN — MAN OF STEEL

ONE:12 COLLECTIVE (MEZCO)

Fun FiQ Fact #0120:  Justice League Unlimited‘s adaptation of “For The Man Who Has Everything” is a rare instance of Alan more actually liking an adaptation of his work, even allowing his name to be credited in the episode.

In a world where I’ve got plenty of options for solid 6-inch figures of Marvel characters, it’s still a little baffling at times how hard it is to find similar quality DC figures in the same scale.  It’s largely locked in on the higher price-point stuff, and even then, you’re dealing with very specific looks.  I love Superman, but I’ve struggled to find a solid Superman figure, honestly at any scale.  I keep trying them out, and I keep being kind of let down.  But…I’m trying again.  With Mezco, even.  It’s an odd day for me, I won’t lie.  Let’s see where it goes.

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Superman – Man of Steel is part of Mezco’s One:12 Collective line, offered as a one-off steel-boxed release last year.  He’s their second classic comics Superman.  The first one was more general purpose, while also being adapted to Mezco’s in-house style (more in line with earlier One:12 offerigns), but this one is a little more specifically based on Superman circa John Byrne’s Man of Steel reboot of the character.  It’s not an exact match, though, for reasons I’ll touch on further down.  The figure stands just under 6 1/2 inches tall and he has over 30 points of articulation.

Mezco figures tend to get more than one head, and that’s maintained here…and then sort of shifted into overdrive, because the figure gets not one, not two, but seven different heads.  It’s…it’s a lot of heads.  Possibly too many heads.  I mean, I don’t want to seem ungrateful for the options, but, like, wow.  All of them are pretty clearly inspired by Byrne’s version of Clark.  I may have my issues with what Byrne did for the character from a story standpoint, but there’s no denying that his illustrations of Clark are always solid, and a pretty definitive take.  Of course, Byrne’s style is one the more cartoony side, whereas Mezco’s aiming for something more real-world.  The translation works okay…for some of the heads.  In particular, the friendliest of the heads really works, and feels like a proper Superman through and through.  The angrier heads aren’t bad either, albeit sort of out of character.  It’s the in-between ones that I feel just slightly miss the mark, making him look downright crazed; there’s some real uncanny valley stuff going on there.  But, of course, there’s so many heads that even if a bunch of them are iffy, there’s still plenty to work with.

Superman’s base body is a slightly bulked up one, but with slightly more balanced proportions than, say, the earlier Captain Americas.  It still looks a little squat from certain angles, but it’s generally a solid match for Clark’s usual build.  The outfit makes use of a jumpsuit with an attached cape, red briefs, a sculpted belt, and sculpted two-piece boots.  The coloring on the suit is really nice, and I dig the exact shades they’ve gone for.  His chest emblem is one notable deviation from the “Man of Steel” set-up, being a basic classic Superman logo, rather than Byrne’s larger version.  He’s got a matching one in all yellow on the back of the cape, which, it’s worth noting, gets wires for posing.  I’m glad they moved away from the weird armature pieces for the capes.

In addition to all seven heads, Superman still gets a huge selection of extras, including five pairs of hands (fists, gripping, flat, and two different styles of open gesture), two different styles of heat vision attachments, a Starro spore, the Black Mercy, three bullet ricochets (which attach to the torso via magnets), a container of all the different colors of Kryptonite, two punching effects, a Phantom Zone projector, and a display stand.  Despite the “Man of Steel” influences of design, a lot of the accessories included are notable Pre-Crisis elements, which makes for an interesting mix.  It’s a lot of cool stuff, though.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

In my search for a solid Superman in this scale, I’ve largely overlooked Mezco, because I’d kind of moved away from them.  When this one was shown off, I was intrigued, but not enough to jump on it right away.  Then All Time got three of them traded in over a three month span, and I took that as something of a sign.  The middle one was loose, so I got to actually mess with him in hand, and I honestly just couldn’t say no at that point.  He’s got some minor things off, and the sheer number of heads is downright silly, but I generally really, really like this guy, and I’m glad I decided to snag one.

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.

#3586: The History of Superman

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

SUPERMAN (GOLDEN AGE, SILVER AGE, & MODERN AGE)

THE HISTORY OF SUPERMAN COLLECTION (KENNER)

Fun FiQ Fact #0065:  On April 1st, 2016, Superman was the subject of my third April Fools Day gag.  Neat, huh?  Anyway…

I don’t talk a *ton* about 1/6 scale figures here.  I mean, sure, I’ve looked at a lot of higher end figures, but for base level 1/6, it’s not really hip and happening.  That’s not to say that I don’t own any of them.  Back in the day, I had a whole bin of 12-inch G.I. Joes, and a handful of other characters as well.  Even some DC stuff.  Today’s figures *weren’t* actually in my collection as a kid, but they did exist, so I suppose they could have been…theoretically.  Isn’t that wild and crazy?  No, not really.  More just a factoid.  Anyway…

THE FIGURES THEMSELVES

“The History of Superman Collection” was released by Kenner exclusively through FAO Schwarz in 1996.  There was also a similarly-themed “History of Batman Collection” also released via FAO Schwarz that same year.  The set included three versions of Superman, as well as four trading cards produced by Fleer/Skybox.  Three of the four cards each give a cover that lines up with one of the figures, and the last one’s a holographic, chrome thing.  Weird, but fun, I guess.

GOLDEN AGE SUPERMAN

The purpose of this set was to cover the major bases for Superman’s looks over the years, so they start, as you might expect, with some of his earlier appearances.  Not his *earliest* appearances, as he had a slightly more drastically different look at the beginning, but more after his look had refined just a touch.  This figure is clearly a ’40s Superman, which is really the heart of the Golden Age, so it’s sensible.  The figure stands about 12 inches tall and he has 14 points of articulation.  The construction here is…well, it’s very much a product of its time.  The head sculpt is undoubtedly the strongest part here, doing a pretty strong job of capturing the essence of the early appearances of Superman, without getting too artist-specific.  Obviously, this isn’t meant to be anything even close to Hot Toys quality, and it’s definitely on the softer side, but it works.  His base body is definitely the most dated part of the whole thing; the articulation is a bit stiff and restricted, and those hands are just humungous.  It does mean he fits right in with Hasbro’s very short-lived JLA line in the same scale, though, so that’s all pretty cool.  The outfit is permanently attached to the figure, with a jumpsuit and cape, as well as a sculpted pair of boots/feet.  He’s got an embroidered logo, which is the proper Golden Age one, and there’s a matching one on his cape.

SILVER AGE SUPERMAN

Our next Superman moves to the “Silver Age”, which is generally late ’50s into the ’60s, though for this one, we’re definitely angling more towards the later end of the Silver Age, if not early Bronze Age.  Ultimately, “classic” would probably be a more accurate description for the figure, but that wouldn’t really fit the set’s naming scheme, so I get it.  He’s using the same basic set-up as Golden Age, so he’s the same height and has the same articulation set-up.  He does get a new head, though.  It’s not *drastically* different from the first sculpt, but the eyes are wider and the spit-curl is far more pronounced.  I dig the subtle changes, and they really work to sell the later look.  His outfit remains pretty similar as well, keeping more or less the same coloring.  The cape is a little longer here, and his logos have been updated to the more standard S-logo.

MODERN AGE SUPERMAN

Last up, it’s the most mullet-tastic and least exclusive member of the set, Modern Age Superman….or at least as modern as you got in 1996.  This one would actually get his own single release at mass retail, under Kenner’s Man of Steel banner.  He’s using the same base body again, with another new head sculpt.  This one’s all mullet-y, as it should be.  It’s still got the same general features, though his chin is a little narrower, and he’s got the extra locks.  His outfit adjusts the design even further, giving him an even longer cape than the Silver Age version, and his blue and red have been switched to much deeper hues.  The single release had a silk-screened logo, but this one keeps the properly embroidered one to match the rest of the set.

THE ME REMAINDER OF THE EQUATION

I didn’t step foot into FAO Schwarz until I was a teenager, more than a decade after this set’s release, so I didn’t have one growing up.  I did know of its existence, though, thanks to Raving Toy Maniac’s archives, and it’s one I’ve always been fascinated by.  It’s not something I felt the need to track down, but when one landed in front of me last summer through a trade-in at All Time, it was hard to say no.  So, umm, I didn’t?  It’s hokey and goofy, and I probably didn’t need it, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it.

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.

….oh, you guys weren’t expecting something April Fools-related, were you?  Well, maybe this year the gag is the lack of a gag.  Yeah, that’s totally it…