Here we have Darkseid in-hand. Right off the bat, this figure is a reuse of the 2021 version sold at Target rather than the regular Uxas version. The colors on this figure are massively improved due to the skin looking more organic while the armor has the purple tint that almost fluctuates as a faint blue in some lighting. Although we mostly see Darkseid in the fiery hellscape of Apokalips, this at least matches how he would look in normal lighting, with the closest being when he brainwashes Superman and kills Aquaman in the visions Cyborg receives while attempting to revive the former with the Mother Box. No other tooling has been applied to the figure we previously had, and that includes the joints for the wrists and knees. Those are still sculpted to better fit with the skin, though they may look disjointed when posed unlike with the double-peg balls and double-jointed knees we normally receive.
His head sculpt is the same, and while the eyes are harder to see thanks to the shadows, the paintwork is much better here than it has ever been for the original version. The articulation is the same as with the 2021 version, with double ball joints for the neck and torso, rotation at the shoulders, biceps, wrists, thighs, and the base of the ankles along with the pivots, and hinges at the double-jointed elbows, inward/outward hand movement, single-jointed knees, and the feet moving up and down combined with the toe-ticulation. His weapon is the same as before, but thankfully nowhere near as bent.
For a comparison with the Uxas version, I also want to show the Target version that I don't have. While the original versions looked fine as they are, new version makes their color schemes look more like mainline figures by comparison. The evolution from regular retail Uxas to the Target version and our final step with the Gold Label edition makes me wish we'd see him fight the League.
The throne we end up with may look impressive from the front, but that's part of the usual trope where toy companies would make their thrones hollow from the back, especially with how common cost-cuttings could be. At the very least, the sculpt work and paintwork manage to look convincing in terms of looking as if it was made of stone from centuries ago. The spots on the sides of the throne as well as the vents(?) go well with the bumps and rough textures on the accessory. The flames that go on the back are part of a lenticular piece that you'd normally find on notebooks, and the (distracting) holes are there for a reason.
The complete assembly is easy, as you hook them in the pegs on the back and that's it. While I'm sure many would prefer the flames to be three-dimensional and painted, this at least has a nice form of "animation" where the flames look as if they're swaying and burning behind his throne. With a better backdrop than mine, you can make this look even better. Not only that, but this Darkseid goes well with a black suit Superman to brainwash. Overall, apart from the throne being hollow from the back, this Darkseid is one that I highly recommend. He looks better than his previous versions of the mold, and the fact that the price isn't ridiculously high makes me happy. Between this and Night People Batman, you should get this since he at least doesn't fall apart the moment you raise the shoulders near the cape.
Final ranking: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
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