Tag Archives: titans

Nov 22 2024

DC Multiverse (Rebirth): Cyborg by McFarlane

Oh dear, will I ever get caught up on my DC Multiverse backlog? Probably not. It doesn’t help that new figures arrive and I keep pushing the new ones to the front of the line. But, I guess these are nice problems to have when you’re a collector. Today I’m checking out Vic Stone as the Rebirth version of Cyborg, a figure that I was pretty excited to get and add to my Titans shelf.

Here he is in the box, and there’s not much new to say, other than his massive arm cannon takes up a lot of real estate on that tray. As usual, the packaging is mostly collector friendly, but you will have to tear the stand and collector card off the back to get them out. Cyborg was previously released in the DC Multiverse as the Collect-To-Build figure from a Flashpoint themed wave. I picked up two of those figures (Flash and Wonder Woman), but could not bring myself to buy the other two (Aquaman and Project Superman) just to complete the CTB, so this is actually my first version of Cyborg in this line.

It’s well known that Todd will take liberties matching comic designs in favor of recycling parts from old figures, and Cyborg here is definitely a case of that. With that having been said, I’ve seen a lot worse and what we got here is close enough for me. The body is largely recycled from the Earth-44 Batman seen in the Dark Knights: Metal Wave, which makes sense, since that was a sort of Batman-Cyborg hybrid. It’s not a figure that I have or had any interest in, but having studied some pictures, I have to say the new paint deco does an amazing job of transforming that figure into Cyborg. The silver armored parts have a bit of a wash to them, making them look pretty convincing as weathered steel. Meanwhile, the black areas have some contour lines and work well as the flexible undersuit. The shoulder pieces are a tad organic looking, but they get the job done. You get a red emblem on the chest, some red points on the sides of his abs, and a couple of red triangles on his lower legs. Almost everything about the body looks great here, except for those wrist and ankle balls, and I’ll come back to those soon.

The head sculpt is quite solid, but punching in close shows the paint to be rather messy. There’s a lot of overspray of his skin tone onto the silver machine parts and even some brown bleeding through from the cyborg part of his face. It’s not a big deal with the figure in hand, but the closer you get the uglier the paint gets. It’s a shame, because I think the sculpt is one of Todd’s stronger efforts.

The articulation is mostly standard stuff for this line, but you do get those older ball-style ankles and wrists, and I sure do hate these. They’re awkward to work with and they don’t look natural. Now, they aren’t quite as jarring here on a cybernetic body, but I still don’t like him. The only other problem I have with this guy is his balance. He seems to have super tiny feet, which can make him difficult to stand in action poses, especially when we get to the next part…

His big honkin’ arm cannon! I’m pretty sure this piece is recycled from one of the animated Green Lantern figures, where it was a translucent green construct. Here it’s painted in the same silver as the rest of the figure and it looks absolutely fantastic. It’s a big and complex sculpt with all sort of detail packed into it’s various mechanical parts. Getting it locked onto his arm can be hit and miss. It doesn’t work at all with his right hand, but I can get a pretty snug fit over the left fist.

Collectors looking for a Rebirth version of Cyborg will no doubt have some issues with the accuracy here, but the figure does represent a very nice modern look for Victor. He also fits my display better than the supersized Collect-To-Build version would have. I’m certainly content now to not have to hunt down the unwanted figures from that wave to build him. There’s still a fair bit to nitpick here what with some sloppy head paint and those ball wrists and ankles, but all in all I dig this one well enough. And he’ll likely be spending time on both my Justice League and Titans shelves as I shuffle things around.

Jul 10 2024

DC Multiverse (Collector Edition): Starfire by McFarlane

A little while back I checked out my first Collector Edition figure from McFarlane’s DC Multiverse series. I liked the figure well enough, but questioned why it was billed as a premium Collector Edition release with a ten dollar price increase. In the end I came away deciding that I was going to be very selective with which characters I buy in this sub-line, and so far there haven’t been many. I did, however, preorder this Rebirth version of Starfire, mainly because she looked great and I wanted her on my Teen Titans shelf. All I can say is Todd must know what he’s doing, because this figure sold out fast, although it has been recently coming back up for preorder. So, is this irresistible Princess of Tamaran worth it? Let’s find out.

Kori comes in a window box very similar to all the other DC Multiverse figures on the market, from the black deco on the box to the blue tray behind the figure. The big difference here is the foil lettering running beside the window exclaiming this to be a Collector Edition release. Also, instead of being sealed to the blue backer tray, the collector card is front and center, held in a special display stand. It’s almost collector friendly, but you do have to tear the stand off the backer tray to get it. And instead of the typical black disk figure stand you get a translucent flight stand that needs to be snapped together.

I’ll always be partial to Starfire’s space bikinis, but in the last decade or so Kori’s outfits have become less revealing. Why can’t we have nice things any more, DC? The Rebirth costume is similar to her 2015 Amanda Conner look, but they even had to cover up her midriff. At least we get a flash of shoulders and thighs. And with that out of my system, I actually still like this outfit quite a bit. The purple and lavender of the deco compliment each other nicely and pay respects to the older costume colors, while also contrasting well with her orange skin. A lot of the costume details here are achieved with paint, but you do get some sculped flourishes, like the raised disks above her thighs, the rumpled knee guards, and the green stone in the center of her chest. There are sculpted lines at the tops of her boots and ends of her sleeves, and she’s sporting some elegant high heels. Unfortunately, the paint lines between the purple and lavendar on her one-piece are just sprayed on, and I would have liked to see those a lot sharper. That’s why sculpted lines in these costumes are always the best, albeit not the cheapest, way to go.

The portrait here is quite solid, with maybe just a hint of Jennifer Aniston in there. Kori has a pretty strong jawline, but I still think she comes across as pretty. The lips and eyebrows are perfectly painted, there’s some nice gradient work in her skin tone, and the painted eyes are absolutely gorgeous. They have a haunting glow that could legitimately be mistaken for some kind of light piping and that’s impressive. I might have liked a little smile, as the expression is very somber, but I still dig it a lot. The hair sculpt is also well done, as it snakes down her back and almost down to her knees. The strands around her face are a little chonky, but I still think it works fine, and the coloring gradually goes from red at the top to orange at the end of her copious coif.

The articulation here is mostly what we’re used to seeing out of the DC Multiverse ladies, which is good. Although I will say that I absolutely hate the ball-style wrists. Not only are they kind of ugly, but they are extremely fragile. I’ve had one come apart on me once. It’s easy to pop it back together, but it’s a really bad design. Ironically, I usually complain about the balls in the ankles, but here they actually look OK, and haven’t given me any problems. As expected, the balance on this figure isn’t great, as her high heels and heavy hair does make her a challenge to stand. Kori does not come with any extra hands, so you’re stuck with just the fists and frankly that’s inexcusable for a Collector Edition figure that costs $10 more than the main line. I really wanted some relaxed hands for her, and maybe some power projecting hands as well.

Starfire does come with two power effect parts, which slip onto her fists. These are cast in a bright neon yellow and they look really nice. On the other hand, they fit very loosely on her tiny fists, so I’m pretty sure these are maybe recycled from another figure. Normally, I don’t have a big problem with that, but when they don’t fit the figure, Todd, you probably shouldn’t use them.

I am happy that we got the flight stand. I know these aren’t popular with some collectors, as they can feel a bit flimsy. If McFarlane were selling these separately I would agree, but as a pack-in accessory I like them a lot. We see them every now and then in the main line, so I think bundling one in with Collector Edition flyers should be essential. You also get the collector card stand, which is the one stand out extra in these premium releases, but certainly not worth the extra ten bucks. Todd is infamous for packing in collector cards that don’t match the figure. Here, the suit is pretty close, but the hair isn’t.

Starfire is a great looking figure and I’m happy to have her with my Titans, but I have the same problems here as when I reviewed the Collector Edition Green Lantern… the money doesn’t add up. In this case, with flimsy wrists, no extra hands, recycled effect parts, and some sprayed paint lines, it’s hard to see how this is a premium figure. She’d be a solid release for the regular line, but I’m just not seeing where my extra ten bucks went. I’ve said it before, I think Todd is just stacking this premium line with regular figures of characters that they think are in demand enough to sell at the higher price point. And I’d say it’s probably working, because I rarely see these go on clearance, so either the demand is there or they aren’t producing as many.

May 15 2023

DC Multiverse (Titans): Beast Boys by McFarlane

Today’s review was supposed to go up last Friday, but real life stuff intervened as it sometimes does. So… today, I’m checking out A Tale of Two Beast Boys. The first is the Collect & Build figure from the Titans Wave and the second is the Walmart Exclusive Gold Label release. The parts for the C&B figure were included with Arsenal, Raven, Donna Troy, and Nightwing and since it’s a loose end from my look at that wave, let’s start with him first.

Yup, he’s a big boy! Is this what Beast Boy looks like in the current comics or is this just some jacked up half-beast form? I have no idea. I poked around a bit to try to find out, and I could honestly find nothing that looks like this from the comics, but that’s OK. One of my favorite mantras is that I don’t have to be familiar with the source material to enjoy a figure, and boy do I really like this figure! Many have pointed out the similarities the costume shares with Hulk in the temporal suit from Avengers Endgame, and yeah it’s hard not to see that. The suit does have some fantastic texture to the black and cream-colored portions with some smooth red trim to make it pop. But what I really dig is the coloring of the skin, with some vibrant light green on the smooth bits and some darker green on the sculpted fringe. Sure, it looks a bit more like roided out broccoli than it does beast fur, but I still love it.

There’s plenty to love in this head sculpt too. Once again you get that beautiful light green on the skin, but here you have some really breathtaking gradients of slightly darker green and a bit of red in the cheeks and dark shading around the pupil-less eyes. The sculpted tuft of dark green hair is very nicely done, as is the hairy fringe that extends from his sideburns to around his jawline. The pointed ears look great and he’s got two tusk-like teeth protruding from the bottom jaw. Everything about this portrait is just superb!

Despite being a big chonky C&B figure, Beast Boy sports most of the usual articulation that comes standard with most regular DC Multiverse releases. That includes rotating hinges in the shoulders, bicep swivels, only single hinges in the elbows, and hinged pegs in the wrists. There are rotating hinges up in the hips, double hinges in the knees, rotating hinges int he ankles, and hinges in the feet about halfway to the toes. There’s a ball joint under the chest and another in the neck. He has a pretty good range of motion, with the elbows being the most restrictive and only doing about 90-degrees. Still, he’s loads of fun to play with. His right hand is sculpted into a fist and his left hand is a grasping claw for all your punching and grabbing needs!

I absolutely love everything about this figure. The heft is satisfying, the colors are gorgeous, it sports an amazing portrait, and it just has a wonderful shelf presence. It also ties this wave together really nicely, because they look phenomenal when grouped together on the shelf. But, just in case this Big Beast Boi doesn’t float your boat, The Toddfather gave us another option…

Yup, a lot of folks seemed to be confused and disappointed by the Collect & Build figure’s reveal, so I’m glad I wasn’t alone in not recognizing it. But as if planning the whole thing, McFarlane let fly a few days later with a look at a more familiar and normal sized version of Beast Boy. The only downside? He’s a Gold Label release, and they can be hard to get hold of. I was pretty sure I was never going to find him, but he did turn up online long enough for me to grab him and have the best of both worlds. Just as an aside, I really can’t wrap my head around the whole Gold Label concept. I was fine with them being repaints or maybe even alternate head variants, but to release an entirely unique figure of a popular character like this? That just doesn’t make sense. Anyway… there’s not much to say about the packaging, other than it has the foil Gold Label seal at the upper left corner and you get the usual black figure stand and collector card. Let’s tear in and see what we got!

This more reasonably sized Beast Boy sports a pretty simple outfit that gets by with paint paint and no unique sculpting that I can see. And that’s fine, because it’s meant to be a simpleoutfit. The slightly off-white and crimson pairs really well together and the paint lines here are pretty sharp and clean. The rubber diapers don’t usually bother me much in this line, but here it seems a bit more prominent than usual. Still, it’s not an obstacle to me enjoying the figure. I am happy to see that the pins are all painted correctly.

The head sculpt is also more in line with the Beast Boy I know from the comic panels. The vibrant green skin color looks great and and the hair is sculpted separately from the head to give him a well-defined hairline. You get some razor sharp printing for the eyes and eyebrows, and a slight smile to the mouth. Overall, this portrait has an appropriately clean and youthful appearance that works really well for the character.

There’s nothing new to say about the articulation, and I’ve reviewed enough of these figures to where running through the articulation is starting to get redundant. The joints all feel good, but my figure came out of the tray with a little bit of bowing to the legs, which should straighten out with a little heat. Beast Boy sports a fist on his left hand and what looks like a reaching hand on his right.

You do get one accessory here, and that’s Beast Boy in eagle form. The eagle is cast in translucent green plastic, which has a really rich color. The sculpt here is exceptionally nice and sharp with the individual feathers standing out despite the use of clear plastic. I suppose you could also use this as a Green Lantern construct too!

And while he’s not really part of the Titans wave, I think he fits in pretty well with the rest of the bunch!

I would have been fine with just the C&B Beast Boy on my shelf, but I’m very happy to have picked up the Gold Label release as well. I know that McFarlane tends to just do waves of four for their C&B figures, which is admittedly a lot more manageable than Hasbro’s five or six, but maybe this was a case where they should have included regular Beast Boy and gave him some of the parts. The only thing missing here is Starfire, so I’m not sure if she’s just absent from the current Titans book or if they just didn’t want to do her. The next time I check out one of McFarlane’s Collect & Build Waves, we’ll be building us a Bane from The Dark Knight Trilogy!