DC Multiverse Justice League Steppenwolf BAF review

Steppenwolf was once seen as a promising entry for the DCEU's list of villains. His role would have truly been intimidating, and he also would have led to Darkseid's debut on-screen. Sadly, thanks to Warner Brothers being cucks, we not only have to deal with a lack of future Justice League plans just because they had no spine from BvS getting shat on by critics (when other franchises went "fuck critics" and made as many sequels as they loved), but we'll forever get normies unaware of how comics work in general say that DC tried to copy Marvel with Darkseid v. Thanos and such. Stupid studio interferences. Anyways, let's finish off this wave of DC figures once and for all with their Build-A-Figure pieces.

Let's go over each figure one last time and discuss what BAF piece of Steppenwolf they each came with. Superman, who comes with the head and waist of Steppenwolf, is fine for fans that are in the market for a Superman that's got the bare minimum of what they want from a Superman figure: looking like the character, having a basic amount of articulation, and comes with a cloth cape. Beyond that, he's in need of a flight stand, more articulation, and alternate hands. Batman, who comes with the upper torso of Steppenwolf, is probably my favorite version of the character in terms of DCEU Batman offerings from Mattel, but that's not saying much considering how his articulation is still a little lacking and he could also go for a few accessories.

Wonder Woman, who comes with the right arm of Steppenwolf, is slightly better than the BvS version by having a less hideous face sculpt, but it's not a spot on likeness to Gal Gadot, neither are things like the articulation, feet, or how her hands hold her accessories any better. Aquaman, who comes with the right leg of Steppenwolf (and yes, for a good while, I had a Steppenwolf that wouldn't even stand up on a single leg), would have been decent had it not been for the lack of head movement or how bad the hips and knees work. It also doesn't help how his right-hand looks oversized compared to his left hand.

And now, we have the last two figures that took me a while to get for stupid reasons even I wish I knew. The Flash, who comes with the left leg of Steppenwolf, looks decent yet suffers from having weak elbow movement and double jointed knees that don't really bend as they should (doesn't help how the two-pack comes with even more accessories than him. And Cyborg, who comes with the left arm and weapon of Steppenwolf, has some decent sculpting and paint, though I wish he had the alternate head that came with his Walmart variant.

And with all that said, let's put this guy together so we can move on with our lives. Thankfully, assembling the BAF is easy to do, though attaching the shoulders can be hard to do because the shoulder pads obscure where you're looking.

And now it's time to cover this build-a-figure once and for all. Here we have Steppenwolf in-hand, and he's already quite the bang for your buck when you get the whole team. Now, is it neat to have a full team along with finally completing this guy? Yes. Is he a hundred percent worth the wait? Well, we'll get into that later. Let's first go over the things I like about the figure. The color scheme used on this toy is certainly accurate to the character design, and it looks gorgeous on him; the New God patina works wonders with this design, and as much as I dislike how lacking the articulation is for the DC Multiverse line, they do make up for it with the paint and sculpting. Almost every BAF piece comes with the same treatment, so he doesn't look as though he's got the same minimal paint seen on the regular Mattel toys from the movie. I've seen those in hand at discount shops when I tried looking for the JL wave of figures, and let me tell you that they looked very drab and almost like prototypes. This guy, on the other hand, is done wonderfully. The only parts that stick out like sore thumbs, however, include thumbs; the hands are not given the same drybrush look to them, making them look as though Steppenwolf's hands were never out in battle or are covered by gloves, meaning they don't match the way his face looks since they're also his skin. They also look kind of off in terms of proportions. I'm sure Steppenwolf has big hands, but these almost look like they're from those 12-inch things that kids get on Christmas. Aside from those, the paintwork looks great, as do the sculpting and proportions.

The face sculpt is done wonderfully that he looks more like Steppenwolf than the actual design does in Josstice (because his skin looked inconsistent and his eyes were a little too human to fit this alien). Plus, is it me, or did the promo content make Steppenwolf's face different from the movie (even if we set aside his different body in BvS, more on that later). Still, the transition from the grayish-blue to the blood-red stains on the horns of his helmet makes this guy look war-driven throughout the many years he was under the command of Darkseid, his nephew.

Articulation is on par with the rest of the figures in the line. The Head is on a ball joint, and it can also look down (which makes sense given how large he is). Shoulders move front and back as well as in and out (though the shoulder pads do restrict his movement). The biceps swivel, the elbows bend at 90 degrees, and his wrists rotate. The waist swivels 360 degrees, and he also has an ab crunch that helps him move back but not forwards. The hips move front and back as well as in and out (though they are heavily limited by the skirt armor), the thigh swivels, and the knees bend at 90 degrees. Finally, the ankles hinge up and down, though they do not pivot, like always with these Mattel figures. I guess it's not an entirely bad thing for this guy to have less articulation than everyone else, though it makes you wonder why the actual figures that come with each piece of Steppenwolf have more articulation.

The electro-axe that came with Cyborg can be held in his hand, though getting it on there is a little tricky, and because of how heavy the top part of the axe is, the wrist swivel couldn't hold the weight of it at all unless it's angled right. And that axe's deco is very lacking; it could have looked as though it was made of metal with some slick paint apps, but instead, he looks like he took it from a basic Steppy and grew its size to make it scale with him.

For anyone wondering what alternate BAF pieces are out there, this Aquaman comes with a new head for Steppenwolf. He's the shirtless version of the character, seen with these big tattoos and two pieces meant for Steppenwolf's head and helmet, which is what we got in Josstice when Steppen's helmet is all that's left of him from the Parademons.  The helmet's coloring has the same red horns but everything else is pretty gray compared to the patina blue. This was likely made after Steppenwolf's fate was altered in the movie since he was originally supposed to be decapitated by Wonder Woman, but that was altered since the Warner Brothers consist of amateur post-production ideas.

I should mention that for anyone unaware of the DCEU continuity, the Ultimate Edition of Batman v. Superman and the theatrical cut of Justice League (the one we call Josstice) each have entirely different looks to the character. Steppenwolf was seen as a lot less human in comparison to the new design, which may seem as though it's cool since the more comic accuracy nerds would love the Josstice design, but this more alien look to the character would better fit with the established continuity. Maybe some could say that the new design would later be retconned as an older Steppenwolf (much like how Uxas looked different from his older Darkseid self). Who knows what will be chosen in the proper Snyder Cut, because it'll depend on what Zack decides will be the look chosen in the movie (likely it'll be the one from the Ultimate Edition)

For a size comparison, here is Steppenwolf with the other figures I have that would normally be seen in anyone's collection: a normal Voyager Class Transformer in the form of Optimus Prime from The Last Knight, and the previously reviewed Marvel Select Venom. Steppy's a pretty big BAF piece, and sadly, I don't have any of the Marvel Legends BAFs or whatever DC Multiverse once got. I'd love to have Onslaught, Abomination, comic Iron Monger, Apocalypse, Juggernaut, Thanos, MCU Hulkbuster, and the Blob in terms of Marvel Legends. For DC Multiverse, Killer Croc, Bane, Ares, and both a comic Doomsday AND a BvS Doomsday. TLK Optimus is a fairly tall Voyager, and Marvel Select Venom is taller than other Selects because of how tall he is compared to someone like Spider-Man or Captain America. Steppenwolf towers over everyone else at around 10-11 inches.

Here he is with foes, the Justice League, who thankfully don't consist of a carrot Aquaman, a Batman with a goofy smile and that dumbass "I don't...not..." line, a Superman with CG hands and a CG face, a Wonder Woman who doesn't get to decapitate him, a Cyborg talking about his legs, and a Flash that said Doestevsky or whatever that was. He's a pretty tall BAF, which is appropriate given how tall he is compared to the rest of his enemies, so much so that he's peering down on Batman.

Making this shot alone is more a lot more fun than watching that cringey Josstice cut. Steppenwolf's pretty neat to complete for fans that want to have this guy (assuming an average DCEU fan would collect these since most of them collect those damn Funko Pops). While the rest of the figures are not too great when priced at $20, and their prices kind of make for a BAF that's not too worthwhile, getting Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman for 10 bucks, Batman for free, and finally getting Flash and Cyborg at the original prices just to get it over with makes this guy worthwhile. I don't think anyone else would exactly mimic how I got a hold of these things, though (and the same could be said for getting a decent Marvel team).

For anyone else wondering what the Justice League series of Mattel DC Multiverse figures has to offer, here are some pics of the other figures out of their packaging. For the big box retail, here are the Walmart-exclusive Motherbox wave (featuring a retooled Cyborg and a gunmetal gray Batman, each with halves of the Motherboxes) and the Target-exclusive Flash Page to Screen 2-pack (which features a translucent version of Ezra Flash (with a new head and hands) and a Rebirth version of the Flash; both of them come with lightning effect pieces and backdrops). If I could, I'd probably get the Walmart figures if they're somehow still on discount, but the Target 2-pack is a maybe since I don't have any plans to get the Rebirth version of the League. I also wish that the pieces that came with the clear Flash also came with the regular figure.

For Amazon and Toys R Us, here is Mera (from Amazon, and she would normally come with a pair of alternate hands and a staff), and we have a Parademon (who comes with a gun and no BAF piece) and the aforementioned shirtless Aquaman (also coming with the new head and helmet for the Steppenwolf). Mera's one I'd like to get, and the same for Parademon, Aquaman's a maybe, but to tell you the truth...

...I think I'm done with the DC Multiverse line...

The thing is, collecting these figures has been a weird roller coaster since 2016, when I first got BvS Batman and the Lego Batmobile back when the BvS hype was around. Even when I first got the figure, I was a little too unimpressed by it because of how weak the leg articulation is, and the lack of accessories ruined it for me. I couldn't find the other figures since I could only go to the Walmart near me at the time (my Target was closed down in 2015 and a Walmart that used to be near my Food4Less was closed down, too). I couldn't really find the other offerings, so my ability to collect the rest of the wave was not there (and the BAF was a grapnel gun and not someone like, IDK, Doomsday???). Justice League came around, and I was tempted to complete the whole team, but sadly, I didn't get a chance to buy them until 2018 (and it didn't help that Josstice was a sucky movie) where I got Superman from using a few gift cards at Best Buy, and I'd later find the Wonder Woman figure at my comic shop and just accept having a so-so display of the Trinity (along with having a Steppenwolf head and torso with no other purpose at the time).

Around the same time, a former friend got me The Dark Knight Returns versions of Batman and Superman at a Burlington for 6 bucks each, and she couldn't resist buying them for me. Those two were great gifts, though if they were purchased at 20 a pop, they really wouldn't be worth the money. I also went with fellow toy collector Illiniguy34 and got me Zod along with Armada Demolishor and Bendy Prime, Titans Return Bumblebee, and 2007 Voyager Megatron. Zod has some horrifically limited hip articulation.

Around the same time, I got to buy a better-done Wonder Woman at discount AND got Tactical Batman for free, each from different shops. This started to make me want to buy the rest of the Steppenwolf wave. also around that time, I got a Luigi, two Studio Series Transformers in the forms of Ironhide and VW Bumblebee, and three Tiny Turbo Changers.

I also got a few DC figures from Illiniguy34 when we saw Aquaman, which consisted of three two Batmen (armored and Knightmare), Lex Luthor, and a Monster Bat (which I have no idea on what happened to it)

For those that don't know, it was the monster that popped up from Martha Wayne's grave to show what a monster Bruce would become if he kept up with his lost mindset throughout the movie...it was also a crappy figure despite it having a neat design and paintwork.

And now I've gotten Aquaman for $10 and later got Flash and Cyborg each at the same price I would have paid at regular retail, completing my JL team. I'm afraid the latter two are going to be the last DCEU figures I'll get for the time being. I don't think I'd get the other characters from the rest JL figures and variants, the BvS variants, or the rest of the Man of Steel Movie Masters, and I'm not even fussed about hunting down the Multiverse figures from Suicide Squad, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, and Shazam. Some say the Aquaman and Shazam figures have better actor likeness and accessories, but so should this wave. I'm also not tempted to get any figures from the older or recent comics, the Superfriends line, the CW stuff, Injustice, or whatever else is represented in the line. That sadly means not getting the Batman Forever version of the caped crusader, Returns Penguin, TDK Joker, etc. Hell, I'm not even INTERESTED in the McFarlane stuff, thanks to how out of scale they are with the rest of my Mattel stuff and how amateurly done the line seems (also because of the bad proportions of the DCAU figures when the show models had the characters look less stylized than McFarlane thought).

For all the criticisms the Marvel Legends and Star Wars: The Black Series lines have, at least they tend to be complete in terms of articulation and accessory count. Even the weakest figures from the line like the 2007 Ultimate Iron Man with its crappy design and Slave Leia with its disjointed look (thanks to how bad the almost nude body and the articulation joints blend together) feel a bit more complete than this wave of figures, and by extension, the rest of the DC Multiverse line. As much as I'm glad Hasbro is winning Power Rangers fans over with the Lightning Collection, at least Bandai's Legacy Collection had more articulation, and in some instances, more accessories than the DC Multiverse line. If these figures were priced at $10 because of how similar they are to the basic figures, it'd be fine (even though Hasbro made the differences between their basic figures and their collector figures in Marvel, Star Wars, and Power Rangers). If these were released in 2002, they'd be great for their time. Sadly, this isn't the 2000's anymore, and as much as I hate how high prices are for action figures, at least I'd get my value for money from what Hasbro or NECA does. I'm sure some will say that I should stick with the Mafex or whatever versions of the League are available in the Japanese import market, but I want to avoid quality control issues on 40-50 dollar figures as well as not buy a bootleg. All in all, this line has its own charms, but I'd rather move on from the DC Multiverse line and better spend my money on stuff like Transformers or Power Rangers. Unless I see a really, really, REALLY good discount on a DC figure I found, or if someone was willing to give me their stuff, I'm not going to do anymore DC Multiverse figure reviews, be it Mattel or McFarlane Toys. Still, I won't abandon my collection. Selling that BvS Wonder Woman was as far as I went (and IDK what happened to my Bat Monster). So to close up shop for now, here is my entire collection of DC Multiverse figures. Until the day comes where I review another DC Multiverse figure, my slate will consist of robots in disguise, defenders of the grid, and heroes from a different comic company.

.-. .-.-.- . .-.-.- .-.. .-.-.- . .-.-.- .- .-.-.- ... .-.-.- . -..-. - .-.-.- .... .-.-.- . -..-. ... .-.-.- -. .-.-.- -.-- .-.-.- -.. .-.-.- . .-.-.- .-. -..-. -.-. .-.-.- ..- .-.-.- - -..-.

DC Multiverse Justice League Cyborg review

Cyborg had a lot of potential that Warner Bros would have provided, as Zack and crew said Ray Fisher's performance would have been the heart of the movie. Cyborg had his origin altered in JL, he didn't have much of a contribution, and for a company that just now said they want to focus on diversity, they sure didn't make Cyborg too prominent in Josstice. His scenes were cut the most compared to the other characters, who were either slightly altered (Wonder Woman and Aquaman) or heavily rewritten in the worse possible manner (Superman with that artificial hope bs, Batman acting like a fool in some scenes, and the Flash turning into a cringy gen-z type of guy with...K-pop in one of his screens?). Also, Cyborg has no current plans for a movie now despite Warner Bros saying that a movie was set to be released in 2020. Whether or not it's due to Geoff Johns and WB screwing things over or AT&T taking over Warner Bros can be debated, but Cyborg's going to have to wait for a long time to get a movie, and sadly, there have been no other appearances of this character in media unless WB decides to release that cut. Anyways, here are my thoughts on a three-year-old action figure based on a movie that was not even the actual movie it was said to be based on.

Here is Cyborg in-hand. Straight off the gate, I have to complement Mattel for their use of silver paint on this figure. They did not cheapen out with the mold and went all in with the paint, and it's applied pretty well overall. None of it feels carelessly applied, and there is a good amount of bare gunmetal gray left over to break up the silver in a clever way. The red highlights are also applied nicely, and they don't attempt to make the figure look too inaccurately colorful. The breastplate does seem as though it's applied without a second layer of silver paint, as a red tint is still there. Still, everything else is not sloppily applied. Proportions may seem a little off at first, but then again, Cyborg's design is meant to look mechanical instead of being made of flesh.

The head sculpt hits the surface level details of what Cyborg's face should look like, but the actor likeness is not that great. It's closer to what the likeness should be, yet it isn't. As for the articulation, head is on a stiff neck joint that makes it hard to turn left and right but does move up and down. Shoulders move front and back, in and out, swivel at the bicep, bend at the elbow, and the forearms have two points where they can rotate. Despite looking like they could hinge in and out, the hands are not able to pull off such a pose. Hips move front and back, in and out (yes, they are on T-joints. The thighs swivel, knees bend, and the feet can only hinge up and down.

The figure has a swappable accessory, consisting of an arm cannon that has some nice blue paint apps along with the silver coating present. Maybe an extra gun or some additional accessories like the full-on head would make the figure look complete.

These are the BAF pieces he comes with, which consist of the left arm and electro axe of Steppenwolf. And yes, we are close to completing him.

This figure has a Walmart exclusive reuse like Batman did. He is slightly remolded in the torso but has a new head based on his fully masked head that was cut from the movie (because Warner Brothers) along with some motherboxes. This figure's head should have come with the regular Cyborg.

Here is Cyborg with the rest of the team. It's neat to own a complete team of Justice League characters from the DCEU, but like the rest of the wave, Cyborg suffers from his own problems. For a 20 dollar figure, he should at least be comparable to a Marvel Legends figure in terms of articulation point count and accessories. Actor likeness not being too great would be acceptable had the other requirements been there. This figure at least has an accessory, but a little more could go a long way. Still, he's one of the better offerings if you can get him at a decent price (re: under $20).

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

DC Multiverse Justice League Flash review

What happened to Flash, Warner Bros? You were supposed to keep it around until 2020 and now it's going to be taken away, leaving plenty of outdated websites from being functional in the slightest! Oh, wrong Flash. Still, WB. You were going to make a movie for the Flash that was said to come out in early 2018, and now the movie's been pushed back to God knows how long! Last time we saw the character was in Josstice, where he was treated like an embarrassment thanks to the dumbass reshoots (*cough* Wonder Woman breast faceplate! *cough*), and then he showed up in the fifth or sixth Crisis crossover (lost track) with another Flash doing what fan art does the most when it comes to characters meeting each other: talking about each other's suits. That's it! Now we have no idea what the hell's going to happen in The Flash, or Flashpoint, or Shockwave Flash, or Flash Gordon (assuming The Flash and Jim Gordon do a fusion dance). IDK at this point, and now it's time to take a look at this mediocre figure.

Here we have The Flash in-hand. This figure looks good, thanks to the sculpting detail and paint apps used on this figure. In fact, much like a lot of DC figures in the Multiverse line, paint is used more often than points of articulation (because Mattel didn't really make their figures too effective with their articulation). There's a nice amount of black, gold, and silver on the suit, which I'll praise them for that. The red could be a little more metallic since it wasn't this dirty of a red (though obviously not clown nose red either). So the paint on this figure is good, but while the proportions seem to be accurate, the arms don't really go all the way down, which may seem like a nitpick, but it kind of makes the figure look like the shoulders should stick out a bit more so as not to leave the arms from sticking out as if Flash is bloated.

Face sculpt is pretty standard, but the figure doesn't really have the face-printing tech used by Hasbro for their figures in Marvel Legends, Black Series, and Lightning Collection. As a result, the figure looks sort of like the actor Ezra Miller wearing the suit while also not resembling him. The articulation of this figure could have been great, but it manages to be frustrating. Head is on a ball joint but still has some of the same limitations of the other figures by not having the neck really move up and down. Shoulders move front and back, in and out (paint scuffing will happen). Bicep swivels are there, the elbows frustratingly bend at 45 degrees (and they bend the least amount compared to the other figures in the wave), the forearms swivel and so do the wrists. The ab crunch slightly hinges front and back (to no real useful degree), the waist swivels, and the hips move front and back, in and out, the thighs swivel, and the knees are the only parts of the toy that have double joints, while the elbows don't (why?), but the frustrating part is how they don't have an effective bend, and they're almost on-par with the single-jointed knees. The ankles hinge, but there is no pivot. Great.

He comes with one BAF piece: the left leg of Steppenwolf. The good thing about this is that Steppenwolf finally stands normally. Nuff said.

This figure has one reuse in a Target-exclusive 2-pack featuring a comic version of The Flash from the Rebirth era. They each have lightning pieces and backdrops, but the Movie version of Flash has alternate hands, lightning pieces, and a civilian head (with the same lackluster actor likeness). The regular figure should have had those accessories, but this one has fewer paint apps and is translucent.

Here he is next to the other League members. We're one member away from completing the team, fellas. Also, I feel that while everyone else decent scales with each other, Flash should probably be shorter than Superman. As for Flash himself, he's so close to being the best figure of this wave, but there are plenty of letdowns in terms of articulation and the heavy lack of accessories (which would have benefitted pretty much any figure in the wave). I can't really recommend this figure because this toy was hard for me to find at a good price (most sites have him at 40 bucks, which is certainly not worth the money), so good luck getting him at a low price, but don't expect to find one that's 10 bucks or less.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Marvel Legends War Machine (Endgame) review

Avengers Endgame is one of the most overblown movies out there. It's self-proclaims itself as a big deal and rewarding of all the praise when it comes to what it offers as a movie. The film has so many plot holes, too reliant on fan service, and it instead wants is the big money while the Russos bs their way through why they're totally the best directors in the industry. It doesn't help by the fact that Infinity War was honestly decent compared to Endgame, or the fact that fanboys spent too much money to boost the box office of the film just to beat Avatar (even though Disney now owns that, but hey, gotta support product and be excited for next product, right?). Still, there were a few good things about the movie. One was Steve wielding Mjolnir and the other was the new suit design for War Machine. While Iron Man's suits haven't been too great compared to his older suits, War Machine's armor somehow gets better over the years, as the designs distinguish themselves from Iron Man's. Now in Endgame, War Machine has a beefcake design that works almost like a mini-Hulkbuster while still remaining at a normal height, and the moment I saw its price was cut in half, I had to buy one! So, here are my thoughts on Marvel Legends War Machine!

Here is War Machine in-hand, and right off the bat, I have to mention that when you hold him in your hand, you can definitely feel a nice weight to the toy. It's almost got the density of a build-a-figure without being a build-a-figure thanks to the lack of hollow parts and the weight of the materials used in the toy. It's just a cold touch away from feeling like it was made from die-cast. The paint used on the figure is also applied well, what with the silver highlights, the red around the pecs and arc reactor, and the military markings that reflect the Rhodey's involvement with the military. The figure looks fairly bland from the back aside from the circular disks around the shoulder blades.

Head sculpt is certainly meaner than the normal look of the Iron Man/War Machine design, and it helps make the character design a little more identifiable from the normal look Iron Man has. I even love the silver face and the red eyes with the white centers (both are better done than the eyes on my Iron Man).

Articulation is slightly limited due to the bulk of the design, but it is still there. Head can look left and right on a ball joint as well as move up and down on a neck hinge. Shoulders move front and back as well as in and out (while the rubber shoulder pads don't get in the way. Biceps swivel, the elbows bend at 90 degrees, and the wrists swivel while also hinging up in and out. I will say I do wish the hands could be swapped. The diaphragm works in leu of a waist swivel and ab crunch, though it is hard to not make it look slightly off because of how tight the joint is. The hips move front and back, in and out, they swivel at the thighs, bend at two very tight knee joints, and the feet can barely hinge and pivot due to the boot designs.

He has a shoulder cannon that can peg on his right side, which is also able to turn left and right. Also has a bit of red paint added. Additionally, there are some underslung arm cannons that give the toy even more weaponry. Those have holes that could allow some Iron Man effect parts to fit in.

In terms of remolds, here we have the Iron Patriot, which, to my knowledge, was seen near the end of the movie (whereas Norman Osborn was the Iron Patriot in the main Marvel Comics). This suit has even more firepower, what with the shoulder cannons, that are likely to snap off from getting damaged in-universe. It also comes with two heads from a homeless guy, one with and without shades. Wait, I'm sorry. You're telling me that's Thor? Oh, right...

Here he is with his friend, Tony Stark, in the Mark 7 suit worn in The Avengers. Initially, I thought that War Machine was going to be slightly bigger than Iron Man, but as it turned out, he's about the same height but is only beefier and probably slightly taller than Iron Man. Still, it's not a bad thing as the figure still manages to be beefy. I also love how different the sculpting is when put next to Iron Man, resulting in similar but not identical suit designs that take War Machine from palette swap to having his own look.

Getting this figure at 10 bucks was a bargain! I was already interested in getting this guy when he first came out, despite my disdain for Endgame and the recent MCU stuff, but the fact that this version of War Machine was put at 10 bucks made me pick him up with no regret whatsoever. The figure itself makes me glad War Machine's suit doesn't feel entirely identical to Iron Man. Weird as it may seem, but War Machine is almost like Luigi to Iron Man's Mario; both are seen as the sidekick type of characters that initially began as palette swaps before slowly gaining their own looks and personalities. (though in the case of War Machine, it's just getting armors that don't look like grayscale Iron Man suits). I'm happy to own a new War Machine as he's not as common as all the barely altered 9000 Iron Men out there, and I might get Rescue just to have a neat trio of characters in armor. And the best part? No stupid BAF piece of Culk!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Marvel Legends Netflix Daredevil review

The Netflix Daredevil series is one of the best pieces of media that's out there when it comes to Marvel Comics. I may seem like a quiet observer of the series while everyone else made fan pages devoted to everything about this Charlie Cox/Vincent D'Onofrio led series, but I can happily say that this series certainly felt devoted to having both a strong start and finish as it puts the "Hell" in Hell's Kitchen more than the 2003 Daredevil movie (not that the Ben Affleck Daredevil movie was bad, though the R-rated cut certainly has more going for it than the PG-13 movie). The 2015 series was compelling, it didn't hold back with the action or tone, and it gave audiences that were already in the MCU fanbase something they'd never get in the actual films while also providing graphic novel enthusiasts a TV show that I feel is on par with Gotham and probably early Arrow (also feels like an evolution to the live-action TV formula Marvel had in the past, with The Incredible Hulk being the best piece of live-action Marvel media made before Blade). I'd even say I have the same amount of respect for Daredevil like I do the first-ever Marvel media I've ever seen, Spider-Man (and the rest of the trilogy), maybe even more for bringing in its own kino in the superhero TV show mix. I'll share the rest of my thoughts on Daredevil some other time, but let's take a look at what's likely the only piece of merchandise for Daredevil that's based on the Netflix show.

Here we have the man without fear in-hand and in the tactical-style suit worn after the character replaced the mostly black outfit. The design of the suit, like most modern comic incarnations, doesn't stick with the spandex look of the comic suits, but it works in the case of a vigilante like Daredevil, who maintained his symbolic look while also going for a tactical approach. Hasbro went all-in with this suit by adding a nice amount of black paint in the right spots along with a nice amount of textured details added in the sculpt. There are bits of silver here and there to represent the buckles of the suit; it helps make the figure look less toyetic and more realistic. I was going to say that the belt looks incomplete, but it's actually like that in the show, so if you've seen the suit in better-lit images, you'd probably tell that the belt is partially painted in black to fit with the aesthetics of the suit. The proportions might look a little off, maybe due to how long the arms look (despite how proportionate they look on their own) or how thin the torso looks from the side. Still, the rest of the toy is outstanding.

The head sculpt also has its own share of molded details to make the mask fit the real-world aesthetics of the show (and I guess the rest of the MCU by extension). I'm guessing Hasbro got a hold of the CAD files with the character likeness and were able to make the head look both sculpted professionally and painted to look like the actor wearing the suit. And yes, my camera was stubborn with taking a focused pic of it; it's more blind than Murdock is.

The articulation is pretty much everything you'd expect for a Marvel Legends figure. Ball joint for the head and a neck hinge to have the figure look sideways along with up and down. There is both shoulder rotation and hinges for moving front and back for as well as in and out, respectively. The biceps swivel and there are two points at the elbow. The wrists swivel as well as hinge in and out. The torso ab crunches and swivels at the waist. The hips move front and back, in and out, the thighs swivel, the knees bend at two points, and the feet swivel at the ankle of the boot, hinge at the foot, and pivot sideways. The hips and ab crunch do slightly wiggle, but only slightly, when the figure is stood up straight.

Daredevil's billy club, used as a cane when he's Matt Murdock, is stored in halves within the left hip's holster. The details of the club are decently painted, though there's not much that needs to be added. It can either be dual-wielded as he tends to do...

...or they can be used as the single baton, and you can pose Daredevil as if he's splitting them or combining them. Sadly, I am missing the clenched fists and the Man-Thing BAF piece, so I can't go in detail over them.

In terms of re-releases, this figure was in an SDCC 2018 Defenders Rail Authority multipack consisting of the same Daredevil figure (with a new civilian head in the likeness of Charlie Cox), and included with him are Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Colleen Wing, and Iron Fist. No doubt you'd want to see Marvel Netflix return after seeing these five, right? Don't worry, a Punisher, a Claire Temple, and Elektra were made (along with a yellow shirt Luke Cage). This set is going to be hard for any of you Marvel Legends newcomers, so unless you're happy with having a few members missing from your Defenders (or if you don't mind sticking with the main retail/two-pack sets), then you better pay up for this pack.

Here he is with a cinematic Spider-Man figure, and it's the Amazing Spider-Man 2 figure from 2014. While one is now non-canon to the MCU (thanks, Feige) and the other is from a short-lived Spider-Man reboot (thanks, 2014 Sony), these two look pretty well together as a What-If scenario where Charlie Cox and Andrew Garfield existed in the MCU. As it stands, Spidey's been succeeded by Tom Holland, but don't count on Charlie Cox returning as Daredevil, even if the character returns in the third MCU Spidey movie. Assuming it'd be a Spider-Man movie and not Iron Man Jr 3, that is.

Overall, this version of Daredevil is worth buying. While there are fans that'd mostly buy the virgin Funko Pop take on the character (because people still do that), looking for the chad Marvel Legends Daredevil is one thing Netflix fans should do if they want to have this as well as a Marvel Netflix collection. If Marvel Legends isn't your thing, then getting the Sideshow Collectibles shall tickle your 1/6th scale fancy. Me? I'll happily stick with Legends Daredevil and hope to find the rest of the Netflix crew at a good price. Wish me luck!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐