McFarlane DC Multiverse Wally West Flash & Dark Flash review

It's that time of the year where we take a look at a DC superhero known to not only run fast as hell, but to also affect continuity wherever he goes. Ignoring the Golden Age, everyone immediately thinks of Barry Allen as THE main Flash, but there is always a second best when it comes to Wally West. Whereas the former was more serious and intelligent, no doubt thanks to his scientific experience, while the latter tends to be witty and often times seen as "relatable" before millennial writers ruined that kind of character trait. Despite Wally being a successor to Barry, he is somehow better tapped into the Speed Force, no doubt likely a trait we see whenever the new guy surpasses the original in feats (such as Gohan surpassing his dad, Goku). As for Dark Flash, he represents the Lightning Knights and one of the many minions under the Darkest Knight, aka The Batman Who Laughs. Without further ado, let's see if these speedsters are worth picking up or leaving behind in the dust.

Here we have Dark Flash in-hand, who represents a twisted version of Flash as he appeared in the Rebirth era. As far as I can tell, this is either a new mold inspired by the costume that was modded for this character specifically, or it is a retool of an existing Rebirth Flash. That being said, it is unique for having the sleeves torn off while the shoulders and wrists remain covered up. I really want to like the entire look of the figure, but I'm not entirely sold on the use of yellow when mixed with the charcoal black and the very pale and chalky lavender skin. A wash or some dry-brushing would help blend in with the darker color scheme, especially with the yellow given how that fits a traditionally vibrant Flash costume. We'll get into a prior version of the character in a moment, but as far as aesthetics go, the lavender and yellow hold the rest of the otherwise solid, corrupted design back.

His head sculpt is appropriately zombified, all stemming from the Lightning Knights being evil and twisted from the traditional heroism found in most Speedsters. I bet he looks like MCU Thanos under that mask, albeit with a double chin.

Since we already know the standards of McFarlane DC Multiverse articulation, his sole accessories are two alternate heads that feature slightly different snarling expressions, which makes perfect sense if you want to army build duplicates of them into a fairly frightening (speed) force. However, the original Dark Flash, originally a Gold Label release, had lightning effect parts that went on his limbs while the costume had black boots, gold on the logo, waist, thighs, ear pieces, and wrist guards, and black within the chest logo. I wish those paint apps that were removed on the Red Platinum version were kept so as to make the costume more complete, though I guess that can be justified with the yellow now being relocated to the boots. It's a weird trade off, especially with how much I get reminded of when Hasbro does this with slightly altered versions of their figures whenever they come with a new accessory or two. If you really want a version of him to go with the rogues gallery of everyone's favorite scarlet speedster, who am I to judge you?

As for Wally West, he is a reuse of the Flashpoint version of Barry Allen, which is the Blue Beetle body to my recollection. New to this figure is a diaper piece with the symmetrical lightning bolt and more generic boot tops. What I like best about the figure is the use of gold to distinguish him further from Barry. Unlike Barry, his eyes are whited out, and the chest logo has a black outline on the circle and lightning bolt. This isn't the first time we had a Wally Flash; the Task Force wave featuring Darkseid as the BAF had this as sort of a pretool with pixelated paint apps to simulate the video game artstyle. I skipped the entire wave but own the Darkseid BAF as someone who prefers my New God villain in titular, darker colors. Instead of an alternate head or BAF parts, this new Wally West Flash has alternate hands in the form of a pair of fists and splayed open hands, as well as a right pointing hand and a left flat open hand.

Let's bring em together and see how well either of them fit well with Dark Flash. Neither have the sculpted details that DF had, but the yellow on the figure matches Barry fine enough. If I had the regular Gold Label version, it would probably fit with Wally a tiny bit more. Just remember neither matches the more modern design of the Lightning Knight.

Overall, I would have to give Wally West the advantage because not only are the alternate hands more versatile than two barely different snarling heads, but you're more likely going to want to complete the 90s JLA group than you are the more recent run of DC. Hell, between this, and both Page Punchers for Barry Allen with the same hands and Jay Garrick means we have more options to complete a more classic (or at least pre-2000s/pre-New 52 Justice League). Wally wins, and Lightning loses.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Dark Flash)

⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Wally West)

Marvel Legends Retro Spider-Man Villains Electro & Mysterio review

Two foes we've seen regularly in Spider-Man mythos often continue the trend of wearing green and having their own unique abilities that briefly put our hero in a pickle before he outsmarts them as per usual. Electro, aka Max Dillon, gained his abilities after being struck by lightning, while Mysterio used visual effects as his abilities to throw people off. They continue the trend of being green along with most of the Spider-Man villains, but they at least have slightly different shades in addition to  being the focus of today's review. Let's see how well these two retro carded figures turned out!

Here we have Electro in-hand. Using the Spider-UK body, which is familiar to me with the Gamerverse PS4 version from years ago, this is a fairly appropriate mold choice for a character like him. It's neither too skinny as with the Pizza Spidey body he once had in the Space Venom wave, nor is it too bulky while maintaining a fairly close approximation of the comic physique. However, being a comic figure, his costume details are tampographed with yellow paint that thankfully isn't too inconsistent with the parts molded in yellow plastic. The same can be said with the yellow parts with any green paint, though the boots have the green spikes match the legs slightly less. While the costume was fairly simple, we at least have the forearms with the spikes that add to the electric theme.

His head sculpt adds to the comic factor with an absurd star-like mask that is very jagged and radical, no doubt fitting someone who's value is pure shock from everything he conducts towards Spider-Man. As for his articulation, the head is on a ball and disk hinge combo, the shoulders move front and back as well as in and out, the biceps swivel, double-joints for the elbows, and both fisted and electric hands can swivel on their pegs as well as hinge in and out. The torso uses an ab crunch as well as a waist swivel, while the hips can move front and back as well as in and out. The thighs swivel, knees are double-jointed, boots swivel, and the feet are able to hinge and rock side to side.

As for Mysterio, this is not our first stab at the character; the Retro version had a suit filled with rich textures and the like, which originated from the 2017 Lizard BAF line around the time Homecoming came out. This version, based on the 90s animated series, uses the Vulcan body with character-appropriate gloves and boots. However, as is the case of Hasbro's own beliefs and approaches to homaging the series they either use poorly applied shading like on the VHS sets or leaving them with saturated plastic colors that may be too shiny to some. This is more matte than other Legends of late, and thankfully the color discrepancy between the limbs and the pinless joints is far less noticeable here. The cape is the typical sculpted het fairly regal trope seen on many Hasbro Legends with capes, though this one has trouble staying in place without the help of some additional tabs. It stays in fine with the dome weighing it down in place somewhat. While the color break up does its job fine, deco is mostly reserved for the belt buckle, the boots, and maybe the diamond-shaped fasteners on the cape?

While the articulation is mostly the same as Electro, Mysterio has accessories unique to him. These translucent tentacles and head are neat even if they lack deco, and while the former can snap onto the legs, the latter can be held in either open hand or used on the empty neck. He does, however, come with the alternate head for his alias, Quinton Beck. Being a new sculpt compared to Electro being a reissue, he has a more realistic aesthetic compared to older Legends figures, and that generally clashes with the animated aesthetics. Word of advice: be ready to deal with the cape not wanting to stay in place without the dome.

Here we have them alongside Renew Your Vows Spider-Man, aka the one who has been my classic Spidey for a few years (still not interested in Maximum, sorry). Honestly, both figures do just fine enough jobs at what they are supposed to represent. Electro being a reissue is okay, though be ready to pay slightly more than what he cost in 2020. Meanwhile, Mysterio suffers from the cape not staying in place and having few paint apps, but the accessory count does him some favors. Electro should be at shops like BigBadToyStore while Mysterio stays a Walmart exclusive.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (both)

McFarlane Digital Red Tornado & Blackfire review

It's that time of the year again, when we have two McFarlane DC Multiverse figures paired together! This time, we have my least favorite section to revisit, that being the Digital subline, where accessories are usually sacrificed in favor of a redemption code for a CAD file of its associated action figure. I have bought a few figures from the waves, don't get me wrong, but it's always going to be in favor of the action figure rather than some redemption code for a program I'm not even going to use. It's something that I won't miss from the McFarlane era of DC figures, especially if it wasn't advertised as the company saying, "hey, you can use these to customize your own versions of the characters if you have the tech," with how overly niche the Digital side of things can be. Anyways, we have the possible last few stretches of characters to look forward to with the likes of Red Tornado and Blackfire as our review focus, so let's see if these two are worth getting despite the slight price hikes.

Here we have Red Tornado in-hand, which is a retool of the Rebirth era version of the character we got early on in the line, to my understanding. Being closer to the Bronze Age of comic books that many people would rather have, we get simpler comic details rather than having ones raised in relief, or at least ditching the belt in favor of a cross in the midriff. We also have no deco on the sides of the legs, but we have it remaining on the arms. What was once gold is now yellow (ironic because the gold is on a release that is called "Gold Label", but there may be a version of this with the mark as well, so who knows what is going on). I don't have much else to say with a simple character in solid red with yellow here and there, but apparently, the legs are supposed to have yellow stripes down the middle. I mean, some comic art has them but others don't, so either the promo art is inconsistent or the toy designers went the easy route. Whatever it's supposed to be, people need to make up their mind.

Head sculpt is possibly the same as the original, with not much else to talk about with the sculptwork when it is a blank bald man head with a yellow arrow pointing at the bridge of his nose, and some eyes with eyeliner around them to make them stand out. It's one of those head designs that is summed up with "does the job fine". His articulation is the standard affair for the DC Multiverse line, as everyone has 22 points of articulation. Same range, same blank bodies, you know the drill.

His sole accessories are the alternate hands that are gesturing at what may be yet another huge problem with this figure: the lack of bendy wires! It's already bad enough that New 52 Superman doesn't have this issue, and it's also no better when No Man's Land Batman has no wire implementation, but HOW MANY MORE FIGURES ARE GOING TO HAVE THEIR CAPES WITHOUT BENDY WIRES?! If you're not going to add one, then don't sew small spaces meant for them to go through! And don't use a ribbon material where it won't flex that easily for a vanilla pose! AND DON'T USE A FUCKING WIRE FOR THE COLLAR AND NOT ADD ONE FOR THE CAPE YOU CHEAP ASSHOLES!!!!! I wouldn't even mind them not adding a bendy wire if they went with including the tornado stand that fits the character, but nope! Minimum effort.

As for Blackfire, this figure is a reuse of the Collector Edition Starfire, which is a retool of, you guessed it, Knightfall Catwoman! While the sleeves and boots at least made sense for the younger sister, not removing the ridges for the boots and gloves results in the discrepancies in what should be a spandex suit. Another issue I have with the figure would be the lack of stability when standing her without the base. Her heels are a pain in the ass to keep her from falling over, and with the shape of her shoes, she ends up being a bitch to stand up. Not helping is the hair on the figure, nice as it may be, has a bit of weight that contributes to her toppling over at times. As for positives, the metallic paint job is beautiful, from the shiny, chrome-like silver to the colorful, petroleum-esque blue that has a slight rainbow effect under the light. And while the lack of retooling to remove the glove and boot ridges may be annoying, the proportions of the build fit the slightly older Blackfire than her sister.

Head sculpt is more or less similar to Starfire, what with both of them being sisters and all that. I like that the orange paint on the skin tone pops along with the red used for the lips and eyebrows in addition to the green eyes. I also like that the silver on her head set is picked out without any skimped areas, even with the luscious hair. Her articulation being similar to everyone else means we can go straight to her accessories: two effect parts she dubbed blackbolts, not to be confused with the Marvel Inhuman. They merely rest over the fists and don't have spaces tight enough to stay in place. You'll have to figure that out. Honestly, while not as frustrating as Red Tornado's cost cutting, Blackfire's balancing issues and retool incapabilities still hold her back. The metallic deco is nice, but you may be want to get Starfire since she has a flight stand (even if the other accessories are more or less the same).

On a side note, we have a Platinum chase variant of Starfire in sci-fi gothic colors that may be intended for Blackfire. Both are based on DC Rebirth.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Red Tornado)

⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Blackfire)

Transformers Age of the Primes Brawl review

We already know a fair bit about Bayverse Brawl in spite of his short screentime in the 2007 movie, but what can be said about G1 Brawl beyond his role as a component of Bruticus? He's loud, but how loud depends on which fiction takes his tech spec bio to heart. I guess the appeal for seeing him in later iterations is the hulking tank appeal that his design has, and it's also why he was either loosely homaged in Energon with green tank component Kickback or had a RID 2001 Armorhide, who is a mostly unrelated character, show up with a more toy-accurate design compared to the made up nature of the Sunbow Combaticons. Regardless, I am excited to bring in yet another review as we get another fairly quick step towards completing AOTP Bruticus. Let's see how Brawl turned out. 

Here we have Brawl in his tank mode, which is not exactly close to the Leopard 1A3 main battle tank of his old toy. While being a tank is standard for the character, I can't help but wonder if this one specifically is supposed to look gappy in certain areas. While a hole under the main barrel is standard for most other tank models, I don't know if most tanks are supposed to have that uneven front end where the area that will be the chest is different from the rest of the corners. I also find the back section raised up higher than the front section to be unusual. I can't say if this tank mode is faithful to whatever source it's using or not because it's more made up than the old toy and possibly Combiner Wars version. At least the turret rotates and the barrel moves up and down. The tiny wheels at the bottom are about as effective as in any other tank former.

For a vehicle mode size comparison, you may think this figure is the same class as his limbs, but no, he is in fact a Voyager. Apparently, that is because Hasbro wanted to make him more substantial for the leg mode than what the Aerialbots and Stunticon legs could offer. Neat idea, but we'll see if he's anywhere near as 'successful' at that compared to Scrapper and Mixmaster.

Transformation is fairly involved than prior versions of Brawl, no doubt as a commitment towards using that "budget" to make justify making him a Voyager. Each portion of the tank compacts itself better with additional hinges and panels to fill out a substantial robot. Granted, I wish the back panels could be flush with the rest of the legs while the barrel on his back is not hollowed out (even if this is done for structural reasons), but an attempt was made. The resulting robot mode is closer to the Sunbow design, which is the result of the character models deviating themselves from the toys substantially. Granted, the combiner toys that weren't limbs or the two torso components of Devastator suffer from having very basic and poorly defined bot modes, but in Brawl's case, they had to reduce his chest side and redesign the arms so he doesn't have alt mode chunks with holes for fist openings. One thing I like is that the Decepticon insignia has no misalignments on the forearm given one part of it is on a hinge to conceal the hand. A larger complaint I have would be the mismatching light gray treads and the gunmetal used on the thighs and forearms. Granted, it's possible parts of the toy are cast in unpaintable plastic, but surely it would be easy to cast those in a darker color, right? And a bit of a nitpick, but those arms stick out a bit more, huh? 

His head sculpt is about as boxy as the Combaticon heads usually are, but at least he has some extra paintwork to make the gunmetal broken up with orange and magenta. The latter being used on the red is a bit out of place on a militaristic robot, accurate or not. Anyways, Brawl's articulation consists of a ball jointed neck, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, butterfly joints, bicep rotation, hinged elbows, waist rotation, universal hips, thigh rotation, hinged knees, and ankle rockers.

The weapon storage is at least able to give Brawl some additional firepower, but that puny pistol makes me wish he had a larger gun or more guns like on Bayverse Brawl. As for the leg mode, I can't wait to put him in the Bruticus frame, especially with how beefy it looks than the Combiner Wars version. That being said, remember when I said he is supposed to be a Voyager to have more in his engineering than Vortex and Blast Off? Where's? All? The god? Damned? Ratcheting?!

And here we have him with the other Combaticons so-far with the same photo I used last time I reviewed Blast Off. Despite being a Voyager, Brawl is the height of a Deluxe to better scale with the other characters as the cartoon depicted them. I guess there is a height advantage with the cannon that is on his back, but then again, so does the propellor blades on Vortex. I feel like I'm in the same position with SS86 Windcharger where I find the budget used on the figure ill-fitting for the price; granted, Brawl has a bit more to him than WC does, what with being a combiner, but we have to consider not only the lack of a ratchet joint compared to Mixmaster and Scrapper, but the price for Voyagers increased nearly TEN FUCKING DOLLARS!!! Once again, we can bring up the mention of the economy (despite prices going up for years) and the mention of tariffs, but when Voyagers get the highest price increase compared to Deluxes and Leaders, what in God's name is Hasbro smoking? Are they the safe-bet purchases for the current TF market these days? That can't even help them out because they got a worse price hike than anyone else. Overall, he is a decent figure, yet his weird altmode design elements and the lack of a ratchet joint knock points off of him. That even hurts with the price increase. God, he is so close to inching a 50% or less score...I need to retire collecting...

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐