McFarlane DC Multiverse Zatanna & Mr Terrific review

When it comes to tech and magic in the DC universe, two of the best heroes to look for in moments like these include Mister Terrific and Zatanna. The former, a member of the Justice Society of America, once lost his wife and was inspired by the Spectre's history with the Golden Age Mister Terrific and became a superhero himself. Michael Holt continues this legacy JSA chairman while sharing a friendly rivalry with Batman. Ironically, after the events of Flashpoint, Michael Holt was captured by Earth-2’s Mister Terrific, aka Terry Sloan. As for the latter review subject, Zatanna is member of Justice League Dark, a subgroup that tackles supernatural threats the regular JLA can't face. While her magical abilities are a blessing, Zatara must also know they can be a curse. Accompanying her is Detective Chimp, who setting aside any monke memes, is a super intelligent chimpanzee who gained his high IQ after drinking from the Fountain of Youth and solved the murder of his owner. Apart from JLD, he is also affiliated with the Shadowpact. Many already know of Zatanna's appearances in the Justice League cartoon if they have never read any comic books involving her, while Mister Terrific was present as probably the only good thing in the shitty James Gunn Superman movie. Anyways, let's see how well these two Collector Edition figures turn out.

Here we have Mister Terrific in-hand, without his leather jacket so he can show off his tattooed arms. The body mold seems to be of the Blue Beetle buck, which might explain why he has these ridges on his boots. I know sometimes the boots are broken up as being solid black, but that ridge detailing would have worked better if the lower legs were slightly filled in beneath the line to show they were actual boots and not rely on people pretending to ignore said line. Beyond that, the rest of the deco is generally crisp and has no real QC issues t

So to speak. Even the knee joints are painted on both sides to color match the respective sides. The costume's T motif is kept intact and it will look even better with the coat. Here, at least the arm tattoos are nice and crisp.

His head sculpt is appropriately stern and has the red T mask on his face. Sometimes, the mask is either that color or is solid black; either one works, but the standard one has the red with a black outline to help it pop more. While the articulation is the same between McFarlane figures in general, we can see his left hand has a molded-on.T-sphere that is painted decently for something permanently stuck on the appendage.

As for his other accessories, he comes with a sneering faceplate as well as a screaming one, both done well though the faces remind me a bit of Hellboy. We also have his swirling T-spheres and a shield generated from one. As for the leather jacket, the material is nice and I haven't had any severe stitching issues, though as with soft goods like these, my biggest concern has to be the longevity over the years. If you remember what happened to ToyBiz Blade, you know what I mean.

Much like Guy Gardner, having a screaming face means that the inside of the mouth is sculpted on the head, rather than being a part of the faceplate like on any other figure. As a result, we get NIGHTMARE FUEL! Between the drilled in forehead, the empty cycloptic eye socket, and the deformed mouth, this is what they do to people as they turn into DCU shills.

If you're one of those completionists out there looking to get every version of a McFarlane figure by any means necessary, look no further than the Platinum Edition with the black mask (no not the Batman villain one) as well as a Red Platinum with a black and yellow suit combo as well as a purple mask (with matching energy effects from the T-spheres. I think his name sums up how I feel about the figure; he's a great release overall apart from a few minor issues (mainly the boots), and he makes for one of the best examples of a McFarlane Collector Edition.

As for Zatanna and Detective Chimp, both characters are sold together in a single Collector Edition set as we've seen with some McFarlane characters who come with animals (Return of Superman coming with Krypto the Superdog and Power Girl coming with Streaky the Cat). However, we did get Ace the Bat-Hound with Silver Age Batman, a non-Collector Edition. Both are generally new sculpts, a miracle for Zatanna since female characters usually either Knightfall Catwoman or the legs of Collector Edition Wonder Woman. I love that the overlay for her magician dress has the yellow shirt piece going past the diaper piece, which makes more sense for a design like this than the broken up sculpt of Pfeiffer Catwoman. The fishnets are painted on, but they are also applied with few to no issues at all. Her wand is permanently molded on her left hand meaning she will have few options of having it be displayed in other ways unless you like her being a lefty. As for DC, I appreciate that he has a bit of a hunched posture from the legs being bent somewhat band the shade of green used for his shit compliments the yellow on Zatanna. With all the reuses of suited figures from both McFarlane Toys and Hasbro, I like seeing a different primate wearing a suit AND being a new sculpt. Reminds me a bit of the Hit Monkey BAF from over a decade ago with Hasbro's Return of Marvel Legends days. 

Their head sculpts are done marvelously, with Zatanna having a lovely smile that is complete with elegantly painted eyeliner, lipstick, and blue shading on her hair. Chimp, meanwhile, has a nice level of texture that maintains a sense of organic realism, and I like that there is a proper bit of separation by the paint work between his sneering face and his hair. While Zatanna has the usual articulation, I have her wearing her top hat as one of her few accessories she comes with. As for Chimp, his neck, shoulders, and waist rotate, though I wish he had more articulation given he's, you know, part of a species said to be the human race's closest relative.

The only other accessories we get with her are the alternate hands with flames sculpted and painted on. Neat but is that really all she comes with? Surely some sparkle effects or different magical pieces would go a long way. It's Zatanna, for God's sake; use your imagination with her abilities!

Of note, her hair comes off likely as a carryover from an intended hair swap you could.do.when.she was meant to be an Elite Edition. We don't know what kind of hair she would have come with, but it likely was also meant to be swapped with the face that comes with the Platinum Edition, who has an entirely different costume deco as well as no fishnets for the legs (though they are not bare skin). Said face is a stern expression, and it would have been intended that the hair comes off so you can use it on either expression. Detective Chimp's got his own alternate head yet the entirely different suit color makes any swap look out of place if that were possible to even switch heads.

Thankfully, we have not gone the Elite Edition route that would have been a huge disaster for the character. Sure, I wish Detective Chimp am with an alternate head since the colors of each version are far from matching, but paying around $35 beats paying $60 any day (even if $35 is still steep). I just wish that either she came with more parts or Chimp had more articulation. Doesn't have to be both at once (though it would still be helpful given the price hike.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Mr Terrific)

⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Zatanna)

Transformers 2007 Screen Battles Final Stand (Longarm w/Bumblebee) review

In the 2007 Transformers movie, Bumblebee lost his legs while helping Ironhide prevent Starscream's missile from damaging the surrounding area. Though there was very little he can do by that point, Mikaela was able to step forward and hook him onto a tow truck for his safety; yet, with a seemingly high chance of the Decepticons winning, the two came up with a new strategy: she'll drive, he shoots. That was later immortalized into the Final Stand set from the Screen Battles wave, where a Deluxe figure comes with minifigures of the humans based on a specific encounter that took place during the movie. In this case, the Autobot figure known as Longarm, based mostly on the tie-in game, was used to represent the same on-screen tow truck that inspired his altmode. Let's see if this set is still worth picking up even without the nostalgia goggles.

Here we have Longarm in his vehicle mode. This tow truck isn't exactly like the one Mikaela drove in the movie, with the toy resembling a Ford F-350 rather than an older GMC Topkick. What I can say is that my copy has some Reprolabels applied by the previous owner, and while they are meant to go over the originally inaccurate Orson's Towing stickers and any other paint apps that weren't 1:1 with the proper, they are see through either by design or from age. I may peel off any redundant ones. Still, the many paint apps kept on this figure is a decent amount for this alt mode, and while not accurate, you know what this is supposed to resemble since it's likely more iconic than anything from Earthspark or One. Inside the driver's seat is a non-removable figurine of Mikaela Banes, which means that she will always be stuck like this even in robot mode unless you want to cover the windows up or disassemble the toy to remove her.

As for the Bumblebee figurine, it depicts him with his lower legs blown off and only poseable at 5 points. Not much to expect from a dude who was severely injured from Starscream's attack, but it does the job fine. Paint apps and sculpted details are good for something at this scale (apart from the barely legible Chevy badge and a dot instead of an Autobot insignia), with the head better matching the CG model more than the old Deluxe toys. Makes me want to do a swap if that were ever possible. The sculpt is based on the Robot Replicas version of Bumblebee yet no parts were reused. That being said, the proportions on the left hand match the rest of the figure far less than it should, but even weirder is that Hasbro did not include any door wings for the back.

Hooking Bee onto the tow truck is pretty simple, and he thankfully won't slip out that easily. While the truck proportions aren't 1:1, it is still in decent scale with the CG model and the physical prop we get of Bee in some close ups.

Transformation is somewhat involved, but still not to the later movie levels of complexity as Hasbro designers started learning how to translate the Bayverse's realism. While closer to how the robots in Cybertron looked with some movie influences, this isn't too far off from the on-screen cast. When I bring up Cybertron, I refer to how chunky the figure remains, not being quite as alien or broken up as Ironhide, for example. We also have part of the altmode staying attached on the right arm. The only bit of Automorph we get on this toy is on the light bar. The resulting robot mode is a boxier version of the CG model from the tie-ins game. Not that it's a bad thing, but he ends up looking squat in comparison to what he is based on. Makes me wonder if his proportions would be different if he turned into the actual truck. The whole crane section becoming an arm cannon is very close to what some prior TF figures did, though it is stuck on his right hand with no proper way of taking it off unless you unscrew it. If there was one other thing I would change, it would have to be the door wings going back more, as they sort of get in the way of the shoulder articulation. Honestly, he may not be as refined as most a Studio Series figures were when it comes to engineering, but it isn't a horribly dated toy.

His head sculpt is closer to a version of G1 Hoist's head rather than either Autobot or Decepticon head used in the 2007 movie game. See, depending on the faction you're playing, Dropkick, along with every NPC drone you fight against, is either an Autobot with a Dropkick-esque head (the pickup truck one, not the dude from the Bumblebee movie) or a camera lens head based on Swindle's. This head was designed by Alex Kubalsky, an former TakaraTomy designer from Australia, didn't get enough of the Activision reference material for a good while and had to make up a few Hoist influences for the toy. Once he got them he tweaked the toy slightly without using either drone head. Anyways, the articulation consists of a ball and hinge combo for the neck, ball joints for the shoulders, wrists, and hips, double jointed elbows, and hinged knees and ankles. There is a slight bit of rotation in the torso but it rarely works.

If you want to leave him without his weapon permastuck, you can unscrew it off via the back of his left hand, but be warned that it depends on that screw to keep it in place.

This is what the figure looks like by itself, mostly using the Orson's Towing decals and slightly fewer decals that even before the stickers were on. The interior also had no Mikaela inside, so this option is your best choice if you want him to not have a human inside him 24/7.

This figure also came in a 2-pack with Bumblebee, though a fairly pristine one in his Classic Camaro form. Only available in the UK.

The last use of regular Longarm specifically came in a 4-pack with 3 ROTF characters: Breakaway, Sideways, and Rampage. As the only 2007 mold in the set, the aesthetic and engineering differences stand out between him and the ROTF trio.

As for the sole repaint, this is an actual Hoist that came in a 2-pack with a G1-themed Mixmaster. Ironically, that figure came with a retooled head to go with his paint job. If you want this mold to.b a bit more Geewunish and are not triggered he won't fit in with your Bumblebee movie characters, he works.

For a size comparison, here he is next to a modern Voyager in the form of Brawl. While the sizes fluctuates over the years, I think he might fit in decently with your Studio Series collection. While not as dynamic as their designs, on top of him just being a truck in the movie, the scene that inspired this set at least should be enough to get fans interested in this toy along with the nostalgia for better days. Get this at a reasonable price if you see it.

Here's an idea for Hasbro to do: make a new version of the Longarm design for the Gamer Edition subline instead of doing more G1 stuff so we can get a bit of Bayverse rep that isn't from the movies themselves. Either that or end the Gamer Edition subline because the WFC and Devastation figures are mostly being as mediocre compared to the games they're based on.

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Star Wars The Black Series Kyle Katarn/Quinlan Vos/Jango Fett review

It's been so long since I reviewed a Black Series figure, eh? Or at least a pair of them? Why don't we fix that with reviewing not two, but THREE characters? We already know I love Jango Fett since he remains my favorite non-Force using character out of the galaxy represented by the 6 movies Lucas made, but some of you may know Kyle Katarn and Quinlan Vos even less, so I will fill in the blanks for you. Kyle was once a recruit for the Imperial forces as a Stormtrooper, but he eventually defected to join the Rebellion after he realized the harm the Empire caused rather than be a protector of the galaxy. He would later be a part of the New Jedi Order alongside the likes of Grandmaster Luke Skywalker and Mara Jade, becoming a prominent dude in numerous events from the invasion of the Yuuzahn Vong to tackling the Dark Nest Crisis and the Second Galactic Civil War. As for Quinlan Vos, he was known to hail from the Clan Vos, served as a double agent known for hiding deep in the shadows, and he even pretended to align with the Dark Acolytes of Count Dooku during the Clone Wars rather than serve as a general (and that was a seemingly good idea to spy on the Confederacy of Independent Systems before he wrestled with the dark side of the Force briefly). TCW (and the Disney canon we got using only the movies and TCW) would have him act closer to the Dude from Big Lebowski, while Kyle Katarn is a name ruined by a Disney shill known to go "HeLlO tHeRe, KyLe KaTaRn HeRe", gross. Anyways, let's see if these figures are worth buying.

Here we have Kyle Katarn in-hand. As with most Black Series figures of late, we have a blank torso underneath a PVC overlay representing his shirt. I always appreciated how in spite of the casual nature of the clothes and their color scheme, Kyle Katarn does at least stand out on his own with the forearm guards, a prominent holster, and a shoulder pad on the right side of his body. While the shoulders being lower and the head sitting up high is a common issue with most Black Series figures, it isn't as bad on Kyle as it would be on other Jedi who probably worked out harder than he did to get their reasonable builds during the Clone Wars (shirtless Anakin and Kit Fisto, anyone?). I wish the brown on the belt and shoulder pad would look somewhat less like unpainted plastic, though. While the gun holster keeps his blaster in place, the lightsaber hilt doesn't like staying pegged into his belt. Speaking of, the hilt lacks silver paint all throughout. It would be one thing if they all lacked that detail from the beginning, but with the price increase affecting all Hasbro lines, what is the excuse for this? 

His head sculpt thankfully looks less like the Disney Shill who would spit his drink out from a totally convincing reaction and more like the FMV actor from Dark Forces II, Jason Court. I get a sense of nobility from a man willing to steer away from his past as an Imperial recruit as he helps Luke Skywalker and friends with the New Jedi Order and the New Republic. Thankfully the beard isn't as digitally printed as some other characters or at least it doesn't seem that way. Articulation is standard for all Black Series figures, with a double ball neck with less range than I'd like, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, rotation and single elbows at the forearm joint, ball jointed wrists, a ball joint at the torso, ball jointed hips, thigh swivels, similar joint systems used for the elbows also applied on the knees, and ankles that hinge as well as pivot. In addition to a somewhat underpainted lightsaber and equally somewhat underpainted blaster, he comes with a swappable swooshing blade that probably should have been more common in other releases from the past. Does that justify the price hike? Probably not.

Up next, we have Quinlan Vos. If you're hoping to fudge him into a Star Wars display void of any TCW & Disney canon characters, you may need to do some custom work. While he did wear Jedi armor in some capacity, it wasn't in the exact same style as this. The chest originally didn't look like what Anakin, Obi-Wan, and most generals wore in the Clone Wars, and the outfit's colors were generally darker (and arguably moreso than in Skywalker's case). That being said, this is supposed to be based on his TCW appearance, albeit in live action, so it gets that right with that regard. As for the proportions, the arms have a bit of muscle to them, yet the head seems to sit up a bit higher on the next than normal. Maybe it's from the way the way his torso armor requires it be longer, but it can look a bit off in some angles. Not as bad as some Marvel Legends but still worth mentioning.

His head sculpt could mostly work at remaining intact with the face, but the hair needs to have the dreads replaced with long, greasy hair. I've seen some figures that have had their hair detach easily without any glue from the factory, so that should customizers out if they plan to use epoxy clay to sculpt that new hairdo. His articulation is mostly the same as Kyle, only he comes with two lightsaber blades. Would have been cool if he had red ones, but he never turned to the dark side in Disney canon (boo).

And finally, we have Jango Fett, who despite being a known Jedi Killer, but he may be equal to the prowess of Kyle while struggle somewhat against Quinlan. Anyways, this is the second version of a Jango Fett buck we got in the past, with the first one going as far back as the early-mid 2010s (before they started going too hard in with peg warming Force Awakens and Rogue One characters), and it also had a reuse with the Gaming Greats version that I reviewed 3 years ago (which was based on how he appeared in the video game Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. So far, this figure looks pretty good, so what's the issue to be had with its aesthetics? Firstly, I already mentioned the half-painted lightsaber hilts on the two Jedi covered earlier, so what can be said about the bounty hunter's armor? The chest area has been painted with silver paint, but the forearm guards and all of the leg panels have nothing going for them. I mean, the hoses and the part meant for the flamethrower have some detailing, but once again, we shouldn't have to expect less and pay more. And while the indigo on the rest of the figure looks fine along with the areas of the figure that are painted, the brown could go for some additional paint to make it look less cheap, like it was carved out of chocolate rather than resemble the leather of the materials from the actual suit. 

His head sculpt is a saving grace, because it is a huge improvement from the Gaming Greats version and even most of the Clones whose helmets come off. I almost want to do head swaps where applicable, though Black Series heads rarely come off with ease. Articulation is otherwise functionally the same, though with some limitations by the shoulder pads, straps, and hoses...more on those later. His guns are equally as underpainted, which is even worse since Jango is known to be a shiny boss. On the bright side the helmet does have the articulated antenna piece, which is something, I guess.

Here he is next to the Gaming Greats version of himself, which was honestly not too bad of a figure beyond the helmet proportions. My copy has some added weathering and leather straps that miraculously haven't snapped off all these years later. The heads under the helmets are vastly different, but I don't think swapping the helmets would be easy given how well they fit on their opposite heads as well as how consistent the silvers are. Hell, new Jango has his almost see through, it's stupid.

One thing I need to warn everyone is that Hasbro's quality control problems are hitting this figure hard. If you bend the elbows, regardless if the forearm is rotated to the inside or not, the hoses behind the arms will snap. Same goes for the belt straps if you move the legs even as carefully as possible. The former's issue stems from how stiff the materials are used for the hoses versus the starting points where they connect to the forearm armor, while the latter went as far as leaving a small gap within the chain, which makes the belt materials so thin that they cannot withstand the flexibility. How does a toy company NOT look through these issues?! I may have my issues with Kyle and Vos, but the problems that plagued Jango Fett take him from being a figure that's make me say "The lack of paint sucks but the figure is still good otherwise" to having so many issues I'm more than conflicted. If you love Dark Forces, Kyle Katarn is the best one. If you like Quinlan Vos regardless of which canon he abides by, maybe wait for a sale. If you're a Jango Fan, be ready to deal with these issues unless you want to fix them immediately. But as I always say in these reviews, NO ONE SHOULD HAVE TO FIX THEIR TOYS OUT OF THE PACKAGING!

Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Kyle & Vos)

⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Jango Fett)