Tag Archives: Ted Kord

#3667: Blue Beetle & The Bug

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

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.

#3511: Blue Beetle

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

BLUE BEETLE

CLASSIC HEROES (DC DIRECT)

“Picking up the mantle of his predecessor, and lacking the mystical blue scarab that gave Garrett super-powers, Ted Kord turned his skills as an acrobat and Olympic-level athlete to fighting crime as the new BLUE BEETLE! With the technical knowhow to create the flying Bug, his mobile crime-fighting base, Blue Beetle is a potent force against the underworld!”

One of the best things about this year’s Blue Beetle movie (which is really, really good by the way, so please check it out) was how lovingly faithful it was to the legacy of the character.  While the story is very definitely Jaime’s, the scarab’s two previous owners are both addressed.  Ted Kord may not directly appear in the film, there’s no denying that he is a very much an integral player in the overall story, and a lot of his history with the role is explored, which was so very cool.  Of course, with no Ted on-screen, there’s no Ted for the minor amount of tie-in toys, so I’ll just have to rely on my backlog of them for a while, huh?  Let’s take a jump back to early in his figure run, then!

THE FIGURE ITSELF

Blue Beetle was released in DC Direct’s Classic Heroes line-up.  He was released in June of 2002, back when they were still just kind of one long-running line with each assortment fitting a different theme.  Classic Heroes was a set specifically based on the characters DC had acquired from other companies, with Beetle and The Question showcasing Charlton Comics, and wave-mates Phantom Lady and Uncle Sam showcasing Quality Comics.  This marked Ted’s second figure, following up on his JLA figure from 1999.  The figure stands about 6 inches tall and he has 11 points of articulation.  Blue Beetle got a unique sculpt for this release.  He’s definitely patterned more on his earliest DC appearances, prior to his “Bwa-ha-ha” era, but not quite going full Charlton in design.  It’s a good sculpt, very clean and concise.  It’s not super posable, but it does the basics, much like the Legion figures from the same era.  Ted’s got a fairly realistic and balanced set of proportions, so he’s not superhuman, which feels right for the character.  His lower legs do seem maybe a touch too short, but it’s pretty minor.  The goggles are a separate piece on the head, allowing you to see his eyes beneath, which is definitely a cool touch.  Beetle’s paint work is very clean and very sharp, which I really dig.  The colors are quite bold, and feel proper for the character.  I love how the black line-work turned out, and his eyes look really good beneath the goggles.  Ted is packed with his BB Gun and grapple line.  The grapple has a suction cup on the end, so you can hang him from windows and such, which is really great fun.  The only downside is that he’s only got one gripping hand, so he hand hold onto the line and his BB gun at the same time.

THE ME HALF OF THE EQUATION

I knew of Blue Beetle more as a concept than an actual character when this figure came out, but his release actually got me more interested.  Unfortunately, my local comic shop, Cosmic Comix, sold out of him before I could actually get one back in the day, and I’ve not seen one in person since.  Well, that is, until Cosmic Comix got one traded in over the summer.  Hey, it’s a fun little roundabout way of getting the figure, I suppose.  I’m glad I finally found this guy, because I do really love him.  I’ve gotten other versions of Ted since this one’s release, but something about this one just seems so…quaint?  I don’t know, but I love it.