Tag Archives: dc multiverse

May 31 2024

DC Multiverse (Plastic Man Wave): Superman, Batman & Plastic Man by McFarlane

We started this week with the DC Multiverse Plastic Man Wave, so we might as well finish with it too. If you’re just joining me, feel free to click on back to Monday to get caught up, otherwise we have two more figures to check out and then we can cobble together the Collect-To-Build Plastic Man and put this whole wave to bed. Let’s go…

As I mentioned last time, this assortment is supposed to be JLA inspired, but it’s pretty inconsistent on that front. Aquaman was a perfect fit, but John Stewart didn’t belong here, and we’re kind of going to have a similar issue today, but I’m getting ahead of myself. The figures come in the usual big window boxes and while I love these packages, I don’t have the room to keep them, so they get recycled. And that’s just as well since you have to rip apart that beautiful blue backing to get at the figure stand and collector card anyway. As for the Collect-To-Build figure, we got the regular arms and legs with the last two figures, and this time we’re getting Plastic Man’s torso, two heads, and some extra arms. Let’s start with Superman!

I can’t say I was the biggest fan of the stories involving Superman divided into his Red and Blue suits, but I do think these make for some beautiful action figures, and that is certainly the case here. Supes’ blue energy suit is achieved entirely through paint and colored plastic, as this is just a generic figure buck, but boy does the deco really sell this one! The electric blue plastic is so vibrant and when you mix it with the super bright white paint and jagged S-shields, both front and back, you get a figure that can really demand attention on the shelf, even without any unique sculpting on the body. The paint lines are nice and sharp and you get the outer pins painted as they should be, which may sound like a strange thing to point out, but it’s something Hasbro often doesn’t get right in Marvel Legends.

The head sculpt is superb. I thought this one might be re-sculpted from Firestorm, but I haven’t opened him yet to really check. His skin is painted a paler blue than the suit with a shock of electric blue hair up top. The face has some wonderfully defined features, with the white cowl shaping the edges and accentuating his cheek bones, and a slight wrinkle to the brow. The white, pupil-less eyes give him an otherworldly visage. The eyebrows are neatly painted and there’s a slightly darker shade of blue for the lips. So far, this wave is definitely three out of three when it comes to the portraits.

There’s no surprises in the articulation and you only get the single pair of hands, both balled up into fists as they should be. You do, however, get four electric effect parts which are designed to attach to the figure’s limbs. I’m pretty sure these are recycled, perhaps from one of The Flash figures, only recast in translucent white plastic. I wouldn’t say these were necessary, but I think they’re a good inclusion and look very nice on the figure. So many of my effect parts wind up in a bin, but I may actually display these on the figure.

I missed out on Mattel’s DC Universe Classics version of this Superman, and while that’s bugged me for a while, I’m OK with it now. I just like the look of this one so much better. A flight stand would have been a nice inclusion but I don’t think we tend to get those in Collect-To-Build Waves. I’ll also point out how odd it is that the collector card doesn’t reflect this version of Superman in any way, but hey… McFarlane gonna McFarlane. And speaking of which, Todd decided to make the Red Suit counterpart a Platinum Exclusive and it’s going for crazy money on the secondary market, so thanks so much for that! Moving on to Batman…

I’m sure I wasn’t the only one disappointed to see that the JLA version of Batman included in this wave was just a straight repaint of The Three Jokers Batman. With early teased images hitting, I was hoping that we’d at least get some retooling and a new head, but nope… this is a straight repaint and that’s just crazy lazy on McFarlane’s part. And with that being said, it pains me to admit how much I dig this release. Don’t get me wrong, this really doesn’t work for me as the intended version, but I just love the way the black and brighter yellow looks on this figure. I have yet to review the previous release of this mold, but I will drop in a comparison shot at the end.

A new head sculpt would have helped, as the little bat nub ears don’t work at all and it could have used a lot less texturing on the cowl. I’m sure there’s another Bats head out there that would have worked better. But you would have to re-sculpt the arms and lower legs too, and I doubt any of that was ever on the table. I dig the sculpt on the lower half of the face, offering a very pouty and super serious caped crusader.

And to add recycled insult to repacked injury, you get the bat grapple gun that we’ve seen a bunch of times already bundled in with the figure. I feel like I have a dozen of these, but in reality probably only two or three.

I don’t hate this figure at all. I actually kind of love it, but I also don’t like the business practice behind it. It’s just a lazy way to toss a figure into the assortment with some new paint and pretend it fits the theme you’re going for. Plus, it probably means we won’t be seeing a proper JLA styled Batman in this line for a while. When you consider how this line butters its bread with Batman variants, it’s a shame McFarlane couldn’t have put some effort into this one. OK, onward to the real reason this wave had me all excited… Plastic Man!

My original love for Plastic Man didn’t come from his comic book appearances, but rather from the Ruby/Spears Plastic Man Comedy Adventure Show. Granted, Plastic Man, and his smoking hot wife Penny, was only part of the show, as it also featured segments of Mighty Man and Yukk, Fangface and Fangpuss, and Rickety Rocket. And the real treat came when it hit syndication and you got surreal intros and outros featuring a live action Plastic Man. Like Blue Energy Superman, I missed out on getting Mattel’s DC Universe Classics version of Plastic Man back in the day, so grabbing this one was a big deal for me. And for the most part, this figure definitely scratches that itch. The edges between the suit and his skin is sculpted, as are the laces, and that’s the case both on the upper body and the abs. The feet are probably new too. I’m not sure how I feel about the break in the torso for the ball joint. It definitely improves articulation, but it messes with the flow of the chest sculpt. I might have been fine with him just having a ball joint in the waist to clean that up, but either way it’s a compromise. The flesh tone looks good, as does the bright red for the suit. He’s got some yellow striping on the black belt and the black laces over his chest are pretty sharp.

You get two heads to choose from and both are full of that patented Plastic Man charm. The first one offers a big toothy grin with his trademark white rimmed goggles. The black lenses have some stylized reflections painted onto them, which looks good. The hair is sculpted separately from the rest of the head, giving him a clean hairline. I love what we got here, but I don’t love the huge gap where the neck fits into the body. What happened here? Why is the neck hole so big? It just looks weird.

The second head has a crazy curvy neck and a pretty comical scowl on Plastic Man’s plastic puss. One of his goggled eyes is popped while the other is narrowed. It’s a wonderful caricature while also showing off his plasticky skills. And lest you thought the neck hole was big to accommodate this head… nope. The base of the neck is no thicker here and that gap is still there and as distracting as ever. I honestly can’t imagine what happened there.

Plastic Man features all the usual DC Multiverse articulation. The arms and legs assemble to the body easily and they stay put just fine. You get just the one set of hands to work with his regular arms, with the right being a fist and the left a grippy hand, despite him not coming with any accessories to hold.

But you do get a pair of swap out stretch effect arms. These are pretty cool and are really what justifies him being a Collect-To-Build figure. The right arm is formed into a makeshift lasso, while the left arm is stretched out and the hand is enlarged. These are fun to mess around with, although I can’t help but wonder if we’ll see this figure released with even more limbs as a stand alone somewhere down the road.

Obviously I’m a big fan of DC Multiverse, as I have a ton of these figures, but this wave is a great example of why McFarlane gets a lot of justifiable hate. Tossing a JLA Wave out there with a mismatched Green Lantern and a straight repaint of a Batman figure that doesn’t work as the version you’re portraying just reeks of lazy cash grab. It’s even more heinous when you make them part of a Collect-To-Build wave that everyone is going to want to complete. And sure, in my case it worked, partly because I absolutely needed this Plastic Man, and partly because I still genuinely like all the figures in this wave. Call me part of the problem if you must, I wanted better, but I’m still pretty happy with what we got here.

May 27 2024

DC Multiverse (Plastic Man Wave): Aquaman & John Stewart Green Lantern by McFarlane

Talk about a fast turnaround! It feels like the Plastic Man Wave went from reveal to preorder to arriving pretty damn quick. I went with Amazon on this one and while they did wind up sending each figure individually, they all arrived within a week of each other no fuss, no muss. Which is more than I can say for the Superman and Krypto that I preordered the moment it dropped back in February. Every week I get another delay notice on that one, until it will likely eventually get cancelled. They even had the nerve to put up another preorder for him since then. What’s that? Oh yeah… The Plastic Man Wave is here! Let’s check it out.

I’ll do this wave in two parts and we’re starting with Aquaman and Green Lantern. The package is standard stuff, and as always I love these boxes with the blue backdrops behind the trays. The windows are large and show off the goods and you get some top and side window to let in more light. These packages are mostly collector friendly, but you know the drill, if you want the character card and stand, you gotta get to ripping! In addition to the Collect-To-Build parts, this wave is has been solicited as a 1990’s JLA themed assortment, which begs the question, why is John Stewart in there? Well, in fairness we did just get a Kyle Rayner with Kilowog, but that’s not really an answer. I guess the only answer is because… McFarlane! So, let’s start with John…

Both of today’s characters were last seen as different versions in the Endless Winter Wave. And while I have not yet reviewed either of those, I will include some comparison shots at the end. This release of Green Lantern features a pretty classic looking suit and I sure dig that. It is interesting seeing it with the modern texturing, but that’s also kind of cool. I also like that the boots and gloves are sculpted separately from the suit and these are not textured. The McFarlane diaper vibe is a bit strong here, and that’s not usually something that bothers me, but it’s just hitting me hard with this figure. Not ideal, but not enough to ruin the figure for me. Obviously, you get the power ring sculpted and painted on his right fist. His left hand can grip, but surprisingly there is no lantern battery for him to hold, which is kind of weird.

The head sculpt is exceptionally good. John has a strong jawline, a noble brow with a little furl to it, and a slightly concerned expression, as if he’s about to go into a serious fight. This is definitely one of McFarlane’s better portraits. The lantern symbol printed on his chest is a little odd. I’d love to know what the reference art for that was.

Articulation is standard McFarlane fare, and that’s mostly a good thing. I’ll always be salty about not having thigh swivels, but everything else is great. One of the great things about McFarlane is that I don’t think I ever had issues with any of their figures’ joints, and that’s something I can’t say about Hasbro. These guys handle great right out of the box and Stewart is fun to pose and play with.

You get two effect parts, and they’re strangely not constructs, but just energy effects. One fits over the fist and I like the way it looks a lot. The other is just a weird energy swoosh, that I think is meant to go on the bicep, but it really doesn’t fit well. I’m all but sure that at least that one is recycled from another figure and it doesn’t do much for me here. Both are cast in a nice translucent emerald green plastic.

This John Stewart is a decent figure, but if it weren’t for the Plastic Man parts, I probably would have waited until he hit discount. It’s just such a strange choice to take up one of the four slots in this assortment. Still, I like the suit design here better than what we got from Endless Winter, so he may wind up bumping that figure off my Green Lantern shelf, but I’m sure both will be represented somewhere. Let’s head under the sea and check out Aquaman.

There’s no doubt the 90’s gave Aquaman a badass makeover. I’ll confess the more classic look will always be my preferred design for the character, but that’s because it’s the one I grew up with. But nothing escaped the 90’s without being EXTREME, so Arthur grew a beard, donned some half-armor, and got his hand gnawed off by insane piranhas so he could replace it with a goddamned hook. And I’ll say that McFarlane’s figure does this version proud. Things are pretty classic from the waist down with the black and metallic green leggings and gold belt. There are some crisp scale patterns printed on the sides of the legs, and fins jutting out the back of his calves. And from the waist up we go all extreme with three quarters showing skin and the shoulder and sleeve of silver armor on the right side. The straps over and under the left shoulder are part of the body sculpt. I think these would have looked better painted brown or black for a little variety, otherwise it all looks good. There’s some great muscle definition sculpted into his abs, cut segments in the armor sleeve, and various dings and pitting sculpted into the armor itself.

As for the head sculpt, well we’re two for two in this review, because Arthur’s is another absolute banger of a portrait. The beard is sculpted and painted so well and they’ve even allowed for his hair to float a bit above the shoulders to allow for neck articulation. Normally, this might look a bit weird, but I can write it off to those strands just floating while he’s under water. This may be my favorite Aquaman portrait of any figure in my collection right now.

Aquaman is the only figure in this assortment that doesn’t come with any accessories or effect parts, but he does have his harpoon hand, so that’s pretty cool. This is also the only point of difference when it comes to the figure’s articulation, since there’s no wrist on that arm. The elbow is the usual double hinge and you get the bicep swivel, but you also get an added swivel where the harpoon socket meets the arm.

These are both solid figures, but Aquaman takes the prize as my favorite out of this pair. I honestly didn’t think I needed to pick up any more Aquaman figures since the Endless Winter version is such a solid and iconic look, but this version has grown on me a lot over the years, so having both represented on the shelves ain’t a bad thing. Indeed, even if the Plastic Man parts weren’t included, I probably would have preordered this figure. He looked amazing in the solicitation shots, and the actual figure absolutely delivers.

And with a set of arms and legs, that gets us halfway to building Plastic Man! Overall, I’m very pleased with both of these figures, and I’ll come back to this wave at the end of the week to check out Superman, Batman, and put together Plastic Man. Sure, John Stewart is the odd man out here, but he’s still a welcome addition to my Multiverse shelf, and I can’t recommend Aquaman enough, especially if you grew up with this version. These guys retail at the regular $24.99 and for the moment they seem to still be widely available at most McFarlane online retailers. They each also have Platinum chase variants, but I’m not getting into all that, but I will be bitching about it in the next review!

Apr 19 2024

DC Multiverse (Gold Label): Kilowog and Kyle Rayner by McFarlane

I should have a lot of DC Multiverse figure reviews popping up, as I’ve been spending a lot of time opening my backlog and getting them up on the display shelves. A lot of these will be older figures, but I’m not against pushing some newer releases to the head of the line. Like today’s Green Lantern Corps set featuring a Mega Figure of Kilowog and another release of Kyle Rayner Green Lantern!

This box is bigger than your average DC Multiverse two-pack, enlarged to contain a whole Kilo of ‘Wog plus the regular sized figure and a fair number of accessories. It’s a Gold Label release, meaning that it is a retailer exclusive, and in this case that retailer is Amazon. I do enjoy Amazon exclusives, because they tend to be easy to get and actually ship on time, whereas I have almost no chance of even ordering most Walmart Exclusives and as for Target, they just issue about twenty “Approve Delay” emails before cancelling it anyway. The last Kilowog figure I had was Mattles Collect-and-Connect version from DC Universe Classics, so I am very excited to get an updated release! And sure, Kyle Rayner too? Why not. Let’s start with him.

Of course, we already got a Kyle Rayner Green Lantern in DC Multiverse not too long ago, but this time we’re getting him in his debut costume. And while I’ll be the first to admit that this design never really struck a chord in me as a Green Lantern uniform, I do like to get characters in their first appearance costumes so I am pretty happy to get this release. There’s a fair amount of reuse from that previous figure giving him the same textured body suit, albeit repainted in black and white with a Lantern Corps emblem on the left side of his chest. The boots and gauntlets are new, with a smooth and organic armored design and provide the bulk of the green in this costume’s color palette. And I do indeed like the emerald green used on this costume a lot more than the pea soup green used on the last release.

The head sculpt is borrowed directly from the last figure, which is good and bad. It’s good because I actually like this portrait a lot. The strands of hair are a bit chunky, but I like his cheesy grin and the fact that the mask is sculpted separately from the face. Also, you get more of that emerald green for the mask. The bad is, well it’s a Gold Label figure with a lot of reuse in the body so, I dunno, maybe you could have splurged for a new head, Todd. Eh, it’s fine.

And speaking of reuse, you get two recycled accessories as well. Both the large sword and the lantern are lifted straight from the Atrocitus Wave Rayner. But they are both cast in translucent emerald green plastic and once again, these look better than the clear pea soup plastic. Kyle also comes with an extra right hand designed to grip so he can wield the large blade construct with both hands. I’m a little less salty about these recycled accessories, because you also get two new ones…

The Samurai-style armor and sword constructs are pretty damn cool. The armor simply slips over the head and rests on the shoulders. And despite being a translucent plastic piece, it has a lot of nice detail in the sculpt. The sword is a lot more sensibly sized and goes really well with the armor. I’ll admit getting a first appearance Rayner makes me willing to overlook the reuse here to a degree, but if only there were an absolutely bitchin Kilowog figure included in this set to smooth things out…

And there is! Kilowog is an appropriately big bruiser with some intricate texturing all over his uniform. He’s got a nearly even mix of green and black deco, with the black found on his arms, legs, and hands. He’s got chonky boots, armored bracers on his forearms, and his Lantern chest emblem is green against a white background. Naturally, he also has his ring sculpted onto the finger of his right fist. The proportions here are really nice and he looks like an absolute powerhouse. This is a big departure from the super smooth costume on my DC Universe Classics Kilowog, making for a truly modern looking update.

The head sculpt is really nice with a complexion that reminds me of pink silly putty. His eyes are set very deep, nestled under a severe brow ridge. His downturned mouth is parted just a bit to flash a few teeth and I can’t overstate how cool and casual the depth to that mouth looks. There’s also plenty of creases and lines in his alien flesh, and the only thing I can pick at here is that a little bit of added paint wash would have made the sculpt look even better.

The normal Mega Figure articulation applies here, which is to say, it’s very good, albeit with the expected abbreviated range in those elbows. Still, he sports double hinges in the knees, a wide range of motion up in those hips and shoulders, and he even has the toe hinges. Kilowog has an excellent balance and he is lots of fun to pose around and play with. He also feels heftier than Mongul, the most recent Mega Figure I checked out.

Naturally, Kilowog includes his lantern battery and it is pretty big! The accessory is cast in the same translucent green color as Kyle’s and it looks great in hand or displayed beside the figure.

And you also get a hammer construct, which looks like a medieval meat tenderizes. There’s some sharp detail in the sculpt, despite the translucent plastic and I love the studded surface of the heads. It’s not overly huge, but big enough that it fits the figure pretty well.

Man, I really do dig this set a lot. I think a good percentage of collectors would have rather seen Kilowog released as a stand alone Mega Figure, and I can certainly understand that. But I’m fine with the two-pack since it got me the first appearance Kyle Rayner costume, which I would have picked up as a single release anyway. And like it or not, that’s the way the game is played. Companies squeeze more money out of existing tooling in order to bankroll new figures. The MSRP here is $69.00, which breaks down to about $50 for Kilowog and $20 for Rayner and that’s about right for McFarlane’s pricing. Granted, there’s no diorama-style figure stand here like we often get in these two-packs, but I don’t tend to use those anyway. Maybe tossing in a couple of card holders would have been a nice idea, but again… not something I tend to use so I don’t miss them.

Apr 10 2024

DC Multiverse (Mega Figure) Mongul by McFarlane

My DC Multiverse collection has really ballooned in the short time I’ve been collecting it, and a lot of that has to do with the frequency that these figures go on sale. And one of my favorite types of Multiverse sale pick ups are the Mega Figures, which tend to show up at deep discounts. I like that McFarlane does these, as they tend to outclass the Collect-To-Build figures by quite a bit and they usually look pretty damn impressive on the shelf. Plus, Mongul has always a favorite of mine, so I was glad to pick this one up at about half price. Let’s check him out…

The Mega Figures come in huge window boxes, which are generally just XXL versions of the regular Multiverse releases. You get the same clean black box with the blue comic panel collage background behind the tray. It’s mostly collector friendly, but you will have to tear the collector card and the stand off the backing if you want to get at them. The windows on the top and right panels let in more light, making MIB a great display option here, but these boxes are way too big for me to keep, so I pitch them. The collector card art is repeated on the back of the box and it’s a great piece of work, but doesn’t match the version of Mongul we get in the box. Indeed, I really have no idea what version of Mongul they were going for here, as he feels like an original design that borrows from a number of different appearances. Sometimes, the source material will be called out on the side panel, but in this case it’s just labeled Superman’s Villains.

The Ruler of War World comes out of the box looking to be quite the imposing brute. Despite his large size, he’s a little light on the heft as I suspect the torso is hollow. That’s not really a knock against the figure, as the quality and build still feels great. He’s rocking the sleeveless look to show off his big orange vein-popping guns and sports a dark blue one piece with purple leggings. He’s got a high-tech silver shoulder harness with an energy source pulsing in the center, and matching silver belt and boots. The ensemble is finished off with a pair of green bracers on his forearms. The coloring here is very well done with the darker purple and blue contrasting beautifully with the very premium silver finish. And of course the orange skin and green bracers add a lot of pop to this palette. As for gripes, I would have loved to see a paint wash over the skin to bring out some of that sculpted detail, and my figure has a bit of silver paint transfer from the armor to the skin on his shoulders.

The head sculpt is fantastic with some excellent creases in the forehead and bridge of the nose to give him some expressive character. The deep set eyes are blood red and there’s some black paint around the edges, making it look like the skin is charred from the immense power contained within those peepers. But, I think the real showcase on this portrait is the evil smile and wall of nasty teeth. The sculpt and paintwork are absolutely on point here! The window in his armor, on the other hand, could have used some more flare. I’m assuming they were going for a pulsing glow, but it just looks like a white dot on a green platform. Some translucent plastic would have looked great here, but barring that it just needed a bit more work to make that painted area more convincing.

As for articulation, Mongul has all the right points, but some of them don’t offer as much range of motion as I would like. And the biggest offenders are those elbows. They’re set on simple hinges and because the sculpted biceps and those arm bracers are at odds, he can’t even pull of a 90-degree bend. The legs make out much better with a decent range of motion in the hips, double hinges in the knees, hinges and rockers in the ankles, and hinges in the toes. There’s a ball joint in the waist and neck. There are no extra hands, but with a left fist and a right graspy hand, he’s got some different display options covered. Even with the limitations, this guy is still a lot of fun to play around with.

I think the design of this figure looks great, but I’d love to know where McFarlane used as their source material because I’ve known Mongul since the 80s and I don’t recall ever seeing him look exactly like this. It’s certainly possible he’s from a more recent appearance that I haven’t encountered, but as I mentioned earlier, sometimes I think McFarlane just comes up with original designs that are amalgamations of past appearances. And that begs the question, why not just pick an iconic appearance and go with that one? But in the end, there’s no question of who it is, and I ended up really digging this figure a lot. And since I have no shortage of Superman figures in my DC Multiverse collection, he’s going to look damn good duking it out with The Man of Steel on my shelf. It also doesn’t hurt that I picked him up for about $20!

Feb 16 2024

DC Multiverse (Rebirth): Supergirl by McFarlane

Holy shit has Todd been busy this year! It seems like every other day we’re getting more reveals of DC Multiverse figures as well as some amazing Super Powers stuff. For the most part, I tend to play the waiting game on this line, as many of the figures do wind up on deep discount, but there have been quite a few releases that I’ve been pre-ordering as of late and Supergirl here was one of them!

This is at least the third version of Supergirl released by McFarlane in this format. We also got an Injustice 2 version based on the video game and a version from The Flash film. Neither of those interested me at all, but I’m definitely down for anything they do from the Rebirth comics. Kara Zor El comes in the standard DC Multiverse window box. She’s a Gold Label release, which I originally thought made her a Target Exclusive, but I’m sure I’ve seen her pop up at some other online retailers since. As usual, the box displays the figure really well and the side panel calls her out as the Rebirth version. And, it’s sort of collector friendly packaging. You can get the figure out, but if you want the stands and the collector card, you’re going to have to rip them off the cardboard backer.

And here she is out of the box and there’s a lot to like here, but I do have some quibbles. The biggest one is the decision to go with what look like boots going up all the way to her skirt. The Supergirl that I remember from Rebirth had boots that went up past her knees and then you got a little flash of bare thigh before the skirt. Maybe she adopted this look later on? I don’t know, but I’d prefer the look that I associate with the character more than what we got here. With that having been said, I think she looks pretty good for what she is and the rest of the figure looks pretty close to the Rebirth character design. I like the shade of blue they used for her top, the S-Shield is printed very sharply, and the red looks great. The sculpted belt is painted gold and the cape is actually softgoods, which is a welcome treat.

The portrait looks good, although I don’t really think it depicts any specific artists’ style from the book. The hair is sculpted really well and I like the way it curls down at her shoulders. Obviously, it impacts the neck articulation, but not as bad as I expected. The facial printing is sharp, she’s got pretty blue eyes and a cute little smirk. McFarlane can be really hit and miss on their comic based portraits, but I think this one is pretty solid.

The articulation follows the standard DC Multiverse formula, which is mostly excellent, but is held back here by the skirt. There are no slits in the sides, so it really hinders her hip articulation and keeps her from achieving any wide stances. And as always I will bemoan the lack of thigh swivels and those bulbous ankle joints, which tend to look really bad on the ladies. As you might expect, her hair gets in the way of looking up for those flying poses. Everything else is fine and her double hinged elbows and knees can get some really tight bends. Kara only comes with one set of hands and those are fists, which is fine by me as they work for flying or for punching.

In addition to the standard black disk stand, you also get the clear flight stand that turns up every now and then. These have an adjustable grabber to wrap around the figure’s waist. A lot of people seem to like to rag on these, but I’m always happy to find it included. It is a little flimsy, but still a decent bonus for a $20 figure, and it works just fine to display the flyers in nice hovering pose. You can also remove the grabber and just use the base as it has a peg hole to stand the figure.

If I had to level one major nitpick against McFarlane’s comic figures is they tend to take liberties when translating the artwork into action figure. And granted, Kara here gets the look about 80% right, if I’m using my highly precise, and not at all arbitrary, scientific scale of deducting 10% off for each thigh that should have been bare. Again, maybe this was the leg look she adopted at some point during the Rebirth run, but it wasn’t in any of the books I read. No, seeing a flash of plastic skin isn’t that important to me, but why not stay accurate to the costume, eh? Either way, I dig this figure a lot and I’m glad I picked her up. Even if she is a far cry from the absolutely fantastic DC Icons Rebirth Supergirl figure, which I should never have let leave my collection. Yeah, always going to regret letting that one go…

Jan 22 2024

DC Multiverse (Mr. Freeze Wave) Batgirl, Poison Ivy, and Mr. Freeze by McFarlane

As promised on Friday, I’m back to finish up with McFarlane’s send up to the 1997 schlock classic, Batman & Robin. I already checked out The Dynamic Duo, so let’s jump right in and have a look at Batgirl, Poison Ivy, and the Collect-To-Build Mr. Freeze!

The packaging is the same as what we saw last time, and standard stuff for the DC Multiverse CTB Waves. Each figure comes with a standard black disk figure stand, a collector card with a promotional image from of the character from the film, and parts to build Freeze. Batman & Robin came with Freeze’s limbs, while Ivy comes with the torso and Batgirl comes with the head, shoulders, and freeze gun. There were also some icy effect parts scattered throughout the wave. Let’s start with Batgirl!

Batgirl’s one-off appearance in these films was portrayed by Alicia Silverstone and I think I would have been a lot happier with that if they at least made her a redhead. Oh yeah, and she was Alfred’s niece for some reason. I wasn’t a fan of any of this, but she sure did look good in the suit. And I do indeed love this suit! The sculpt here is really good, but there are some minor unintentional color variances because of the different materials used. As a result some parts are glossy while others are very dull matte. The only thing about this that is off-putting is how it makes the diaper-piece stand out more than it should, otherwise I dig what we got here. The cape is sculpted exceptionally well and I love the way all the folds and rumples look in it from the back.

The head sculpt is passable, but I think it’s let down the most by the flat paintwork. Honestly, I’d have no idea who this was supposed to be without the context of the mask and suit. Like Robin, the mask is sculpted separately which makes for some clean lines between it and her face, but the same can’t be said about her collar, where there is some overspray of flesh tone on the suit. There’s also a bit of black smudging on her neck. The hair is also sculpted as a separate piece and looks good, but it does inhibit her neck articulation quite a bit and sort of just hovers over the front. It’s a far cry from what Hasbro is doing with their Legends portraits, but I think we can all agree that DC Multiverse is at it’s best with comic based portraits and not actor likenesses.

You do get the same level of articulation here as with the Dynamic Duo and I always love that this line doesn’t discriminate when it comes to poseability, unlike Hasbro’s Legends. They added a bit of chonk to Batgirl’s heels to help her be a little more stable and that helps, but she can still be a little tough to keep standing in dynamic poses, especially with the weight of the cape pulling her back. This is definitely one that will need her stand to keep her upright on my shelf. As with Batman and Robin, she comes with fists attached and no other hands. I like her a lot, but I think the other two Caped Crusaders turned out better. Moving on to Ivy..

I’ll start by tossing out an unpopular opinion bomb and stating that I’m not a big fan of Uma Thurman. Part of that is me just not liking a lot of film’s she’s been in, but also I just don’t find her to be that charismatic or appealing. With that having been said, she seemed to have a good time playing Ivy in this flick and she sure put a lot more energy into it than Silverstone did Batgirl, so I’ll give credit where it’s due. She had a bunch of different looks in the film and if I know Todd, he’ll find a way to capitalize on that, but for now we get the one that’s most like her more iconic comic appearances. She’s wearing a one piece which is beautifully sculpted out of leaves and given a nice wash to bring out the detail. The outfit also features a pair of light green sleeves, and tights that start out dark green and gradually go to black when they reach her high heeled boots. There’s some ivy sculpted onto her left leg and I think this outfit turned out looking great!

This portrait is easily the best of the wave and while that may sound like a loaded compliment, it really is just all around excellent. The bright orange hair features a really nice sculpt and the ivy half-mask over her eyes are separate sculpts giving this portrait some nice depth. The paint for the eyes and lips are also sharp and clean. This may be some of McFarlane’s best work when it comes to action figure portraiture.

And once again, we get standard DC Multiverse articulation, although the hair really gets in the way of her head movement. Her heels have less chonks than Batgirls, but she has no cape dragging her back, so it’s possible to get her to stand, but it can still be tricky so she will also be using her figure stand to stay up on my shelf. Ivy is the only figure in the wave to not have two fists, instead she has an accessory holding hand on the right and an open hand on the left. I dig that they sculpted a leaf into her open hand, that’s a cool little touch. This figure turned out great, and I wasn’t surprised to see her sell out fast at some of the online retailers that I usually frequent. And now… The Iceman Cometh…

It’s safe to say that Schwarzenegger’s Iceman is the main reason I ever re-watch this film. It’s so stupidly over the top it just screams 1966 Batman with a budget. Beyond that Arnold seems like he’s having an absolute blast and his suit and makeup are both works of art. I honestly think you’d need Hot Toys working at the top of their game to really pull off anything that comes close to this on screen glory in action figure form, but for a 7-inch entry, what we got here ain’t bad at all… but I’d fall just short of calling it great. The sculpting is excellent and there is a lot of detail packed into this suit. I also like the proportions of the body, especially the big shit-kicking boots. The head seems a little small, but it is a guy in a power suit, so it’s permissible. What’s really missing here is the paint. You get a vibrant blue on the panels that were lit in the movie, located on his lower and upper legs, biceps, and chest, but everything else is cast in silvery plastic. It has a decent finish, but would have looked so much better with some silver foil paint, or even just a wash to bring out more of that wonderful detail.

The head sculpt is very good, and the use of that translucent blue plastic for the helmet looks exquisite. It’s a shame we couldn’t get more of that effect for the lit panels on the suit. The flesh tone of the face doesn’t quite jibe with the on screen makeup, as Freeze had more of a sparkly face, but it still looks good. I will note that if you look closely, the paint on the lips doesn’t really match the sculpt of the mouth, but that’s not something that’s really obvious when viewed with the figure in hand. The shoulder pieces are cast in a softer plastic and so the silver there doesn’t look as vibrant as the rest of the suit.

The articulation here is fairly similar to a regular packaged DC Multiverse figure, although you do only get single hinges in the knees and elbows. Everything else is textbook right down to the hinges in the feet. The arms can just about do a 90-degree elbow bend, and the shoulders plates are designed to hinge up and down to allow for decent range of movement there. I initially had some problems with the legs detaching, but I don’t think they were in all the way. A little heat and pressure got them seated better and they stay put pretty well now.

Freeze comes with two accessories: A freeze gun and an ice blast effect part for it. I have absolutely no idea what happened to my effect part. I can see it in the packaged shot, but I haven’t seen it since. It’s possible one of the cats carried it off to their Treasures Den under one of the sofas. The gun sculpt is excellent and his right hand is designed to hold it perfectly, along with the foregrip for the left hand. DC seems to be giving McFarlane a little slack lately when it comes to including sci-fi themed guns. Overall, I like this figure a lot. There are certainly opportunities for improvement, and who knows? Maybe McFarlane will release him as a Gold Label with a better deco, like they did with Collect-To-Build Bane and the coat. Part of me would like to see what a Gold Label version would look like, while part of me doesn’t want to endorse that kind of scummy business practice.

Oh yeah, you also get a four other ice effect parts, which I think are meant to go on the other figures to make it look like they have been frozen. Two of these are obviously meant to go over the hands, the other two are a little more nebulous in their intent. I really need to hunt around and see what some other collectors have done with these.

And that’s the DC Multiverse Batman & Robin wave! All in all this is a nice set of figures, and I’m really glad McFarlane took a risk on these, and even happier that the risk seems to have paid off. While these have been going in and out of stock at some retailers, you can probably still assemble the wave at retail cost if you hunt around a bit. At the time I’m posting this, Amazon has them all available for just a few dollars above retail each. A lot of the Ebay listings I have seen seem to be without the Freeze parts. More than half the time I’m willing to play the waiting game on DC Multiverse, but this was one assortment I pre-ordered and I’m glad I did. I would love to see a Gold Label Ivy, repainted as one of her other outfits in the movie, and I’m hoping to see some more figures from these wacky films.

Jan 19 2024

DC Multiverse (Mr. Freeze Wave) Batman and Robin by McFarlane

A lot of people sure hated the 1997 comic book extravaganza that was Batman & Robin. On one hand, it’s easy to see why. Batman just came off of two excellent grimdark films and then completely flipped the script on the third and fourth. On the other hand, it’s basically a case of “What if we did goofy 1966 style Batman with a big budget and lots of stars?” And yeah, I was all for that, so screw the haters. It’s a terrible movie on so many levels, and yet I adore it. Heck, I probably love it even more because so many people hate it. And can I say that I will forever mix up the titles of the third and fourth movies. Is it just me, or does it seem more natural to go from Batman & Robin as the film that introduces Robin and then go to Batman Forever for the next installment? Anyone else with me on that?

Normally, the idea of this film getting a toy revival would be insane, but welcome to the 2020’s where nostalgia driven adults drive toy sales and literally anything is fair game. Enter McFarlane Toys with a wave of four figures and a Collect-To-Build Schwarzenegger Freeze, and we’re in business! And much to my surprise, the collectors were on board for it and these figures sold out fast at a lot of online retailers. The wave consists of four figures, which include Batman, Robin, Batgirl, and Poison Ivy, and each contain parts for the Mr. Freeze figure. These come in your basic DC Multiverse packaging, enlarged to contain the CTB parts and each figure comes with a standard black disk stand and a trading card with a movie still of the character. Let’s start with Batman!

You know the deal: Keaton skipped out after the first two, Val Kilmer was on board for just the one, so George Clooney was hauled in to don the cowl for the 1997 film. I think he played a better Bruce Wayne than Batman, but he certainly isn’t one of this film’s biggest problems. The suit got a redesign with more black, less yellow, and the nipples are still here from Batman Forever’s first suit. Even with the Batnips, I like this suit a lot. From the chiseled abs to the sculpted bat symbol in the chest, McFarlane did a nice job bringing out the details in it. I’m not sure I ever noticed the sculpted bat shields on the front of the boots before, but they make for a nice touch. The cape flows well off the shoulders and spreads out a bit as it reaches the floor, looking full but not too obtrusive.

The portrait is solid, but not exceptional. Honestly, that could be anyone under that cowl, but with rotating actors playing the role at this point, I’m not that hung up on the likeness. I do like the way the sculpt distinguishes the holes around the eyes and where the face is painted to maintain the continuity. The ears bend in at the tips more than they should, which is probably more a side effect of them being bendy, rather than an intentional design choice. The biggest detractor here are the seams running up the sides of the head, which aren’t nearly as apparent when not punched in with the camera.

Standard McFarlane articulation is the order of the day, and while that’s mostly good, I will forever gripe about the lack of thigh swivels. The ball joints in the ankles are usually a problem for me too, but because of the all black suit, they aren’t as big of an eyesore here. Everything else is fine, and I found this figure to be lots of fun to play around with. There are no extra hands, so Batman gets by with his punchy fists and that works. So, how about that Boy Wonder?

Holy Holdovers, Batman, Christopher O’Donnell survived the shakeup and returned as Robin for the 1997 film, and he got treated to a very Nightwing inspired suit. I didn’t mind his look in Batman Forever, but I really prefer this one. A lot of it is sculpted to match Batman’s from the belt buckle to the Bat shields on the boots, but here we get a splash of color in the crimson bat symbol on the chest, which carries over to the shoulders. The cape is more understated than Batman’s with it dropping only about to the knees and giving a little swish to the left.

The head sculpt isn’t bad. I think they got his lower face down pretty well, especially the jaw structure. The eyes are let down by some very basic paint. I do love that the mask appears to be sculpted as a separate piece making for a sharp outline against his face. The hair is also separately sculpt and sports some nice detail and a clean hairline. I’ll rate this one higher than Batman’s, but they’re both fine.

Robin’s articulation is identical to his partner, making him equally as fun to play with. He also only comes with the attached fists, so no extra hands. The joints on both figures worked well straight out of the box, but I don’t usually have issues with stuck or loose joints on McFarlane’s figures, so no surprises there.

Obviously, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen this pair in plastic, as Hasbro pumped out toys for the film back in the day. But it is cool to see them getting released as more detailed and better articulated figures for the collector market. And obviously there was a market for these, with some retailers beginning to restock them, so there should be enough to go around. It will be interesting to see if McFarlane capitalizes on that with some more suits from these films. In the meantime, I’ll be stopping back on Monday to check out the second half of this wave: Poison Ivy and Batgirl, as well as the Collect-To-Build Mr. Freeze! Have a great weekend!

Jan 12 2024

DC Multiverse (Collector Edition) Alan Scott Green Lantern by McFarlane

Just last year, McFarlane unleashed the new Collector Edition figures onto the market with a hefty $10 price jump over the regular DC Multiverse releases. I was all ready to make my first foray into these pricier figures to see if they seem worth it when McFarlane goes and drops an online store exclusive Infinite Crisis wave for $40 a pop, and I was like holy heck, what are they smoking over there? I mean, I’ll admit that I’m the king of dropping too much money on toys, and even I am not tempted by these kinds of figures at that price. Were they hoping to make these Collector Edition releases seem cheap by comparison? I honestly don’t know, but I’m really interested to see what the collector backlash is going to be like. But for now, let’s get back to the Collector Editions… These seem to be based on more classic or essential versions of characters in the DC Multiverse for an added premium. I was skeptical about how this whole thing was was going to turn out, but decided to give it a try with the first character that really tempted me… Alan Scott! Growing up on Hal Jordan, I can still remember when my uncle blew my little mind by telling me there was another Green Lantern before him and giving me some of his ratty old comics and I devoured the hell out of them. In retrospect, that was probably one of my first realizations that a whole DC Universe had existed for decades before I discovered it. What can I say? I was still really young and dumb and relatively new to reading comics that weren’t Spider-Man or The Fantastic Four.

The packaging is similar to the regular DC Multiverse releases, what with the black box and blue insert behind the tray. “McFarlane Collector Edition” is printed in silver foil lettering up the left side of the front panel and the collector card is now displayed on the tray in its own display stand. On first inspection, that card display is the only thing that really seems to call out that this release is anything special that should make it pricier, and I’ll talk about at the end.

Out of the box, is there anything that really sets this figure apart from the regular releases? Nope. You get the same basic body type and articulation that we’ve been seeing all along. Now, that’s not to say this isn’t a very nice figure, because it certainly is! Apart from the boots, belt, and cape, the figure uses a generic body, but you do get his ring sculpted on his right hand. The colors are beautiful with a deep red for the top and boots, a hunter green used for the pants, and some gold paint for the trim on the boots, belt buckle, and cape clasps. The lantern emblem on his chest is just printed on, but it’s nice and sharp. Factor in the purple and lighter green on the cape, and you have a dazzling deco straight from the comic panels of the Golden Age.

The portrait is very solid, giving Scott some well defined facial features and a rather determined expression. I love the way the high collar on the cape frames his face with one corner licking over a bit more than the other. The mask is sculpted with lots of depth, and the hair is separate from the head giving him a clean hairline. There’s a bit of overspray of the mask’s purple paint onto my figure’s left eye, which is ironically a bigger paint gaff than I’ve had on any of the regular releases. It’s not terribly noticeable unless I punch in close, but still pretty unwelcome for a higher priced Collector figure.

Alan comes with two accessories: His lantern and a power effect part. The lantern can be held in his left hand, while the effect part fits over his right fist. There are no additional hands included, which seems a bit weak for a pricier collector figure. With that having been said, the accessories are quite nice and are cast in a bright neon green semi-translucent plastic.

And then you have the collector card with the stand and as I said earlier, this is the only thing about this whole package that feels really different than a regular Multiverse release. Was anyone asking for this sort of thing? I certainly wasn’t. My cards go into sleeves in a binder and get forgotten about. And quite frankly I’m betting that a lot of these cards just get thrown away with the packaging by figure collectors who just don’t care about them. The cards are cool bonuses, but putting them on a stand takes up about as much shelf real estate as another figure, and like a lot of collectors, I can’t spare that room. Now, I will say that I think Alan Scott is one of the nicer DC Multiverse figures I’ve picked up last year, but there is simply nothing about the figure itself, be it additional paint apps or sculpting, that would justify being sold at a premium. And since I tend to pick up a lot of my regular Multiverse figures on sale, I’m not willing to put up $30 a pop for these unless it’s a figure that I really can’t live without. My biggest concern is that Todd will be using these premium editions for the classic and iconic versions of legacy characters that a lot of collectors have been asking for from this line, when they really should be done as regular releases. I have no doubt you’ll see a few of these Collector Editions land on FFZ in the future, but they will probably be few and far between. And you sure as hell won’t be seeing any figures from that $40 each wave until they hit deep discount bundles on Todd’s site.

Dec 15 2023

DC Multiverse (Atrocitus Wave) Black Lantern Superman & Batman and Collect-To-Build Atrocitus by McFarlane

As promised, I’m back for part two of my look at the Blackest Night themed wave of DC Multiverse. If you need to get caught up, I checked out Kyle Rayner and Deathstorm a couple days back. This wave has been out there for a little while, and you are likely to see some older DC Multiverse reviews turning up here from time to time as I try to get caught up on a stupidly huge backlog.

The packaging is standard DC Multiverse stuff, but the Collect-To-Build assortments come in wider boxes to accommodate the extra body parts. As always you get the figure stand and collector card sealed to the back of the cardboard tray, otherwise these window boxes are collector friendly. I’m a big fan of the Blackest Night story and was happy to collect the DC Universe Classics releases, so needless to say I’m excited to be opening these as the boxes have been lined up on my shelf for a while now. Let’s start with Superman!

As far as nightmare versions of Superman go, this one is pretty damn freaky. The black suit is covered with that basketball-style texture that’s become synonymous with modern superhero costumes these days. The silver trim against the black makes for quite the striking combo, especially since the silver paint is so shiny and vibrant. He’s got segmented bracers on his forearms and a gross necrotic yellow tint to his skin, which is followed up by sculpted veins and fissures in the arms. His cape is a shredded mess, falling off the back in several strips and looking ragged near the bottom edge. I like that the bold S-emblem on his chest is all sculpted in an extremely pronounced fashion, giving it some wonderful depth. About the only thing I don’t like here are the ball-shaped ankle joints, which break up the flow of the boots, and are left as unpainted gray plastic.

The head sculpt is fantastic, with more of the necrotic flesh and a nice bit of paint wash to bring out some of the details and create some shadows. The creases and cracks in the skin are appropriately gross, his nose is completely rotted off, and the sunken black around the red eyes look like he’s literally burned the area out with excessive use of his heat vision. A familiar hint of his trademark cowlick makes the whole visage even more unsettling. And the real winning feature here are the corn kernel teeth! This is just great stuff!

I’m passed the point of running down the articulation for this line, as it remains constant throughout. Suffice it to say, it’s pretty damn good and Supes is fun to play around with. He does not come with any accessories, and his only set of hands are balled into fists, which works for me! Next up… Batman!

Black Lantern Batman is an equally imposing bit of horror with an absolutely stellar costume sculpt. The gray suit has more of that texture sculpted throughout, as well as some seemingly purposeless straps that run from his thighs up to connect at his abs at a point. There are some pouches sculpted on his belt, and both the bat symbol and the Black Lantern Corps emblem are sculpted as well as painted, which is a wonderful touch. The silver emblem really pops on what is an otherwise muted deco. The blue boots and gloves are segmented and have jagged blades coming off of them. Ah, but what I really love here are the spikey bits growing out of his shoulders that look like partially mutated bat wings, which give him a really creepy silhouette. The rest of the cape is tattered at the edges.

The head sculpt here is OK, but it’s a big step down from Superman’s. You get the same yellowed necrotic skin showing around the lower half of the face, and the mouth is open in a perpetual scream, showing rotting teeth and some nice depth to he bat-maw. It’s creepy for sure, but nothing about this sculpt reaches the sharpness or complexity of Superman’s and the white pupils on the eyes feels like an afterthought. It’s not terrible, but this one just feels like it was sculpted and painted on a Friday afternoon.

Again, you get some solid articulation here and no accessories. His hands are both sculpted in a grasping or reaching fashion, which is pretty good for displaying him in shambling zombie-like poses. Both Bats and Supes are solid figures. Oddly enough, I’d say I like Batman’s body the best and Superman’s head sculpt the best, but either way the compliment each other really well. Now let’s build Atrocitus!

The last time I got an Atrocitus figure was twelve years ago as part of Mattel’s DC Signature Collection and that review is worth a click just to see how unbelievably shitty my photographs were back then, as opposed to average and passable now. Anyway, this Atrocitus is a straightforward build with the body, head, shoulder piece, and four limbs making up the parts. I had a ridiculously difficult time getting one of his arms to peg in before noticing that it was because the loose shoulder ring was backwards. Once I popped that out and corrected it everything went fine. I really appreciate McFarlane’s approach to doing only four figures for their Collect-To-Build stuff, but these can be a lot harder to get together than Mattel’s old line. With that having been said, Atrocitus is together and looking big, imposing, and pretty damn fine!

The black suit is textured and you get some nice sculpted panel lines in the boots and gauntlets, which can be easily overlooked in all that bright red plastic. There’s some extra glossy red paint used for the tabard that runs down his chest, and the snappy silver Red Lantern Corps emblem is sculpted as well as painted. I particularly like the way the abs piece hangs down over the pelvis to avoid that rubber diaper look that this line is known for. The black and red deco looks amazing and conspire to create a superb deco.

The head sculpt is pretty good, although the huge wall of teeth feels a little lacking. I’m not sure if it’s the paint or sculpt or both, but I feel like it could have been better. With that said, I like the texturing to the skin and the various creases and crevices in the downturned brow and the piercing golden eyes. The face is bookended by armor cheek pieces and that is surrounded by the high collar on the shoulder armor.

Despite being a big and bulky, cobbled together rage monster, Atrocitus sports all the articulation points of the regular figures and I didn’t have any problems with the limbs coming apart at the connection points. He has his right hand balled into a fist and his left hand open and kind of relaxed, which work well for posing and he’s just a whole bunch of fun.

I think this was a pretty solid wave of figures, and one where I would have easily purchased each one even if the Collect-To-Build incentive wasn’t there. Indeed, I’m hoping that we get another Blackest Night themed wave eventually or at least some more Red Lanterns, because I really loved how Mattel gave us quite a few. Granted, with Necron being a Mega Fig release, the next logical Collect-To-Build is already taken. Which reminds me, I still need to pick that one up. The MSRP on these figures is $24.99 each and at the time I’m writing this review, this wave is pretty widely available at discount. Heck, even a while back I was able to pick them up for under $20 each. I’m certainly glad I did, but I would have been just as happy getting them at full price.

Dec 13 2023

DC Multiverse (Atrocitus Wave) Kyle Rayner and Deathstorm by McFarlane

I’m going to try to make McFarlane a semi-regular weekly thing going forward, because I’ve barely scratched the surface of showcasing those figures here. So, let’s get things started with a look at one of the Collect-To-Build waves. McFarlane has streamlined this process a lot when compared to Marvel Legends or the old DC Universe Classics line, by requiring the purchase of only four figures to complete a CTB figure. I like that because it not only means less money, but it lowers the chances of having to buy a figure I don’t want in order to get all the CTB parts in a wave. Well, at least statistically. Today I’m going after the Blackest Night themed wave with the parts needed to build Atrocitus, and I’m starting with Kyle Rayner and Deathstorm.

The packaging is a little wider than normal in order to accommodate the extra figure parts, but otherwise it’s the same old DC Multiverse window boxes. These display the figures and extra parts beautifully and would be collector friendly if it weren’t for the figure stand and collector card being sealed against the cardboard backdrop. That used to bother me, but then I realized I didn’t have room for these big boxes so I have initiated the great purge to recycle them all. Kyle comes with Atrocitus’ torso and Deathstorm has his head and shoulder armor. Let’s start with Kyle!

I really like Kyle Rayner, but he’s still pretty far down there on my list of favorite Green Lanterns. Still, I was happy to be getting him on my DC Multiverse shelf and all in all I think this is a pretty solid figure. My first impressions left me not liking the shade of green they went with. It’s more of a lime-olive than the emerald I’m used to seeing on the Green Lantern Corps. It’s grown on me a bit since, I think it looks good, but it still doesn’t feel quite right. There isn’t a whole lot of sculpted detail on this costume apart from the basketball texturing, but you do get sculpted tops of the boots and gauntlets, and his ring is sculpted onto his right fist.

I like this portrait a lot, especially Rayner’s cheesy grin. The mask is sculpted separately from the face, which adds a lot of depth and makes it look like something the figure is actually wearing. The hair sculpt is also separate, allowing for some of the strands from his bangs to dangle over the mask. I dig it!

The figure sports the standard Multiverse articulation. The joints all feel great, but I’m always going to lament the absence of thigh swivels in these figures. There are no extra hands, and the figure comes with the right hand balled into a fist to show off his ring and the left hand sculpted to grip his accessories: The lantern and a sword power construct.

Both the lantern and the sword are cast in some extremely bright lime colored semi-translucent plastic, which makes for a nice glowy energy effect. I do like the sword a lot, but given Kyle’s abilities to come up with some extra creative constructs, it seems a little pedestrian, but that’s OK. Let’s move on to Deathstorm…

Oh wow, is this a departure from the bright and grinning visage of Kyle. Deathstorm has long been a favorite design of mine from the Brightest Day run and this figure does a great job bringing him off the page and into plastic! The costume is fairly simple with a mostly smooth body that gives way to sculpted corruption as it gets closer to the head. You get some sculpted arm bracers and sculpting for the boots. The silver bands that wrap around his thighs and come to a point below his chest are sculpted as well as painted, as is the chest emblem and the lines radiating from it. The shoulder armor flares at the edges, giving him a really cool silhouette.

Oh and that head sculpt is really something special! The rictus grin and piercing eyes are so damn cool. The skull itself has some great sculpted detail brought out by a charcoal black wash, which compliments it beautifully. And the grayish-almost purple semi-translucent flame effect coming off the head just ties it all together so perfectly. Holy crap, this looks so damn good!

The articulation holds no surprises, and you get only the stock pair of hands. The left is sculpted in a sort of grasping motion, while the right is designed to hold his one accessory: His Lantern. The Lantern is simple enough, but it looks good with a matte silver finish.

Seeing as how much I loved collecting the various Lantern Corps in the DC Universe Classics line, I was mighty excited to get this assortment, and so far I think it’s off to a great start. I’m a bit at odds as to whether I like this Kyle better than the DCUC release. I think the detail and portrait are better here, but I like the coloring of the uniform on Mattel’s figure more. On the other hand, we never did get a Deathstorm out of the DCUC line, and even if we did, it’s hard to imagine this one wouldn’t totally trump it, because it is absolutely awesome. I’ll swing back on Friday for the second part of this wave, and we’ll check out the CTB Atrocitus as well!