Let's quickly go over the Red Onslaught wave. They consist of Captain America, Sharon Carter, Mockingbird, Demolition Man, Whirlwind, Taskmaster, and Cottonmouth. I don't own anyone from the wave, but I do have versions of Cap (my first comic one being the retro-card version repainted from this one) as well as a more classic Taskmaster from the Cabal 3-pack with Iron Patriot and Taskmaster. This was the Red Onslaught wave, specifically named because of the story arc where Red Skull uses the brain of a dead Professor X to turn into Onslaught. For a more classic head, fans had to get Kitty Pryde from the Juggernaut wave to complete that look. Also, everyone other than Captain America has the labels under the boxes reading something like "AGENTS OF SHIELD" in different languages, and that's probably because Hasbro's Legends team at the time can't be bothered giving each character a dedicated bio beyond lumping them in pairs based on a vaguely similar element and writing something like "these characters are the good/bad guys and they do good/bad things to people!" to save money...
And now we have the pieces ready to be assembled. While we're here, I'll go over who Onslaught is as a character, or in this case, an entity: he was the merge of Magneto's consciousness entering the mind of Professor X after the latter shut down the evil mutant's mind. And thus, Onslaught was "born". Eventually, Xavier was freed from this being, leading to the Crab Onslaught design many nicknamed given how crustaceous the second form looked. As for assembling this figure, I recommend taking the shoulder pads off the upper body before attaching the arms. Not only that, be careful with the peg on the cape since it likes to flex a bit while assembling him.
Here he is fully assembled, and I love how the design is based off of Magneto's while appearing armored and segmented. It reminds me of the aesthetics Azrael's Batman suit had with the claws, sharp spikes, and ribbing to give him a then-modern look than the more traditional costume design found with Mags. That said, apart from a bit of dry brushing here and there's the figure is completely bare plastic. I'd like to see more than just key pieces of his surface area picked out with a coat of paint, especially to hide the somewhat swirly plastic in some of the purple. On the bright side, the proportions are spot on to some of the comic art; he doesn't look like a cosplayer, and it's also helping with the armor on the upper body hiding the shoulders; they're not lower on the body or undersized, but the armor just makes him more dynamic than some Legends try to be today.
Head sculpt is awesome as hell on this figure, easily the best the Magneto style helmet has ever looked thanks to the shrouded face and piercing blue eyes. Kind of gives me medieval Spawn vibes; hell, Onslaught in general reminds me of Todd McFarlane. Articulation consists of a ball and disk hinge combo found on many standard Marvel Legends, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, bicep rotation, single jointed elbows, wrist rotation as well as inward/outward hinges, a diaphragm joint, ball jointed hips, thigh rotation, double jointed knees, and ankles that hinge as well as pivot. As for how I feel about the Red Skull head, it's one of the better sculpts he's received, but I never cared too much about the Red Onslaught saga as much as I have the classic version. It always came off like one of those Mashers ideas but not as cool as Spider-Hulk.
Target is set to reissue this figure, with the only difference being the hands are now broken up in color. That bit of red makes a difference, though he comes with nothing else. Whether you think spending $40 on him is worth it is up to you, even if the original BAF was pricey on eBay, but I would have added alternate hands or effect parts. Hell, why wouldn't he be in the Gamerverse sets with someone like Gambit? Anyways, here he is with his normal counterpart, Charles Xavier. I would put Magneto in but he kind of sucks. As a BAF, Onslaught may not have as much shelf presence to him like the heavily detailed crab version from a decade before this figure, but the sculpt is mostly good while the articulation is at least more than enough for anyone who'd display him in poses similar to the character sprites of MvC1.
Up next, we have the Abomination to go over. Unlike Onslaught, we have two versions of the character released in a nearly simultaneous timing; the version I have here is from The Raft box set sold in SDCC 2016, and included with him are a Spider-Man with the Scarlet Spider lenses, Dreadknight, Enchantress, Sandman, and Purple Man. Funny how I end up owning 1/6th of a convention release. As for the regular retail version, he came with a basic Bucky Cap body repaint known as Eel, Secret War Captain America (same body as on the last one I mentioned but with the 2013 Ultimate Cap head), Wonder Man, MCU Scarlet Witch, Iron Skull (seemingly a Disney-mandated creation courtesy of the Avengers Assemble cartoon), and Captain Britain. By that point, they seemingly began pairing figures to share a box less frequently, only giving Captain Britain and Wonder Man the "Energized Emissaries" name since they probably don't have as much casual rep as Cap and Scarlet Witch do. I'm amazed Eel and Iron Skull don't share a box either that reads something like "the mwahahahaha motherfuckers".
Here he is disassembled, something a lot of BAFs still carry over when they're not split in pieces between other figures. Since I never reviewed an Abomination before, why don't I go over his character bio? Real name Emil Blonsky, the Abomination came to be after the dude tried to kill the Hulk via overexposure to gamma rays, only to turn into a monster just like him with the addition of lizard DNA. Unlike The Hulk, he doesn't have the ability to revert back to normal; he is also known to work for other villains higher in rank than someone like him, such as the Galaxy Master, and you could probably see him in the Lethal Legion, AIM, or Thunderbolts. He also had beef with the Silver Surfer and Thor!
And here he is, fully assembled. One thing you may notice is the segmented armor around the shoulders, back, and feet; that is in reference to the way Marvel artists used to interpret scales with the limited art capabilities they had at the time, and it works as part of the mutation Abomination received from having reptilian DNA in this form. You can also see the cracks and pores on the skin to represent his rougher, uneven appearance, and all he has on him is a thong instead of the usual torm pants Hulk wears, but at least this Abomination isn't naked like some of his toys are. Another bonus I like is how the nails come off as appearing ugly and uncared for with a character like this, no doubt something he has no time for while trying to undo this curse he has much like Bruce Banner would. Paint is mostly reserved for the wash on the segmented armor, but at least being a darker color makes him appear less cheap.
Head sculpt is mostly good with the black wash over the face, and I always liked how the yellowed teeth and webbed ears help hom stand out from.thr still human face of The Hulk. However, the scalp looks unfinished with no paint work likely from beint a different part of the sculpt. Articulation consists of a ball and disk hinge for the neck, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement (watch out because the bumps on the shoulders tend to sheer off without enough space), bicep rotation, single jointed elbows, wrist rotation and inward hinges, waist rotation, ab crunch, ball jointed hips, thigh rotation, hinged knees (that look ugly), and ankles that hinge as well as pivot.
The retail version was in more classic colors, what with a fade to a brighter green as well as having brighter blue trunks that stand out from the rest of him. I prefer the Raft colors for how much they help him stand out next to The Hulk, who works better in the brighter green and purple, but the scale between these two is not quite ideal. Maybe that's accurate in the older days of Marvel lore, but as we know, artist reinterpretations and retcons do happen frequently in Earth-616. Honestly, you can either stick with this or get the new Abomination (thankfully not a retool of this mold) but it depends on if you have a Hulk or not, and hopefully you don't have Maximum version.
We have looked over the Marvel Universe, and now we shall go to the DC Universe from here! This is the Plastic Man wave, consisting of Batman in solid black, Superman Blue with Platinum Chase Red, Aquaman with different deco differences between either version of himself, and John Stewart in his traditional or 90s-era suit redesign. While the other figures are worth having for the JLA-era run of the comic series, especially Superman Blue and Red despite the latter being harder to find, Batman's the odd one out given he looks nothing like his JLA design where he wore a solid black costume with longer ears depending on who drew him. I'd argue the version we got in the Spawn 2-pack or the black No Man's Land versions are better fits.
As for Plastic-Man himself, you may notice he has extra parts on him. I'll go over those in a moment while I assemble him and write his bio: depending on what version you're reading (pre or post Crisis), Patrick Eel O'Brian was a thug for most of his life and eventually fell into a chemical vat after receiving a gunshot, but he would either received help from a monk or be saved from suicide by Woozy Winks before choosing to fight on the side of the law. It wasn't until the late 90s that Plastic-Man got to join the Justice League, and he would be involved in succeeding against most of the other villains apart from the League of Assassins, struggling with his son, and occasionally splitting up with the Leagur from time to time.
Here we have Plastic-Man in-hand, and after seeing the armored or monstrous BAFs earlier (and what's to come next) this is almost a breath a breath of fresh air. He uses the Blue Beetle body, which is McFarlane's own Bucky Cap or Vulcan body mold for easy reuse, yet this may be their best version yet. For one, they retooled the torso to accommodate the costume design traits for the leotard and his bare chest, on top of requiring some modifications for the neck to work differently. What makes him stand out are his bare legs, complete with exposed feet that probably never feel any pain or require any skin treatment. I bet they probably put most versions of Robin to shame with how muscular his thighs are. I know most people try to talk about who could be DC's equivalent to Deadpool if they forget about Deathstroke inspiring the guy, design wise, but instead of Captain Marvel or Harley Quinn, Plastic Man may be a better fit despite nowhere close to having a potty mouth. Both are meant to be the funny ones after all, though PM began his comic career with more comedy while Deadpool later developed into becoming the insane mess that people know him as today.
Head sculpt is a rare gem in the Multiverse line with that toothy grin and the shades coming with that Windows 8 logo looking reflection on the lenses. Despite how slight the gaps may be on the teeth, this is a better smiling head than the ones used on Superman. And hey, I'm always happy to see this guy smile because it fits him the best considering he's not the type to be stoic in his resume. I know I already reviewed plenty of McFarlane DC Multiverse figures that share the same points of articulation, but since we brought up how different the points are between Onslaught and Abomination are, let's see how Plastic-Man poses. His head is on a similar neck system to the Three Jokers/Hush Batman heads where the two parts of the body are molded together while the joint is burrowed within the torso. Shoulders rotate on ball joints and can wiggle around with the assistance of the washers, and they are able to move in and out on a hinge. Biceps rotate, elbows double bend, wrists rotate at two points and can hinge in the middle; the torso flexes around on teo ball joints, hips use more universal style joints than Legends, thighs rotate via the connections, knees double bend, and ankles swivel, hinge, and pivot. He also has toe-ticulation, a pun that is even more appropriate here.
The swappable head and arms means you can pose Plastic-Man with his neck extended and the arms stretched out while either capturing someone reaching someone or something. Maybe a remote? What I love is how the glasses are able to distort themselves to convey emotion, and once again, it's appropriate dor someone like him. He's one of the more expensive BAFs out there, thanks to factors like his wave having mostly desirable figures except for that specific black suit Batman, and the Platinum versions everywhere having as much demand (mostly Superman Red and 90s John Stewart), so if you want just Plastic-Man and not the figures, be ready to pay in the triple digits.
For anyone wondering, we have no other version of Plastic-Man, but Elongated Man is a similar character with his own lore. Long story short, he was obsessed with contortionists as a teen and wanted to mimic their flexible feats while eventually drinking the special soda brand Gingold to grant him these abilities. He first met The Flash after the latter thought he was a criminal, but the two quickly became allies, and eventually Elongated Man joined the Justice League. Unlike most other heroes, he had a stable life with a family and everything! Regular version of EM is in his second costume while Platinum is in the original, both have the same alternate arms, but the hands are reused from The Flash (at least Wally West from my collection).
Last, but unfortunately least, we have the Darkseid BAF. While everyone is based on the normal comic continuity, this is based on the Justice League Task Force game. For those who never heard of it, it was a fighting game on the SNES and Sega Genesis, comparable to what many played on the arcade games even if the game was a bit drab. However, we only have 4 of the 6 playable characters in the wave, and they all use a pixelated deco to represent the sprite work like some toy companies do when referencing the games. It works the best on Batman and possibly Aquaman, but less so on Superman and Flash. They have that ugly sweater look to them, and it doesn't work well with anyone but themselves. Oh and they have variants that might be Player 2 skins, but they look more like Infrared and UV Light versions. On the flip side, they have punching effects so that helps.
With Darkseid in pieces, you may expect me to go over his bio, right? Not really; I already talked about him in past reviews (even if they were mostly for the Snyderverse version), but I'm sure he is already well known by now: super powerful being, is one of the New Gods, his uncle is Steppenwolf, he uses the Omega Beams to wipe people out, and he gets a boner thinking about Wonder Woman in the Superfriends series.
Here he is fully assembled, and to the most part, he looks awesome. Darkseid's deeper shades of blue and grey look so appropriate for a character whose first half of his name is literally "Dark", and the proportions are just as fitting for an alien powerhouse who'd likely go hand to hand with Superman and the Justice League when he isn't using the Omega Beams. That said, I think so e fans have complained that the arms are always at a slight angle when you have them down, and given the lack of any flexibility you would get in the rotary washers for the shoulders, so that is aw straightened down as they can get. As for the pixelated shading, I know they tried to make it look like light reflects on Darkseid's body, but the deco is far too bright unlike the sprite work from the fame. Here, it looks more like his leotard's been drenched in water and his skin is peeking through. The belt doesn't help much either as the shading they tried to convey looks more like a dithering test than anything meant to pass off as the game's aesthetics. Maybe if the colors were a bit bluer, then it can fit in better? You can remove the deco if you want to, because as we'll go over, this is the only option for a darker Darkseid from McFarlane.
Head sculpt is one of the better parts of the figure, with the kind of shading I wish was used on this figure instead of the pixelated nonsense the whole wave is stuck with. Articulation consists of a ball joint rooted in the torso for the neck, shoulder rotation, outward arm movement, sculpt-breaking rotation at the elbow, single jointed elbows, wrist rotation, inward wrist hinges, a single torso joint, hips that WOULD work like any McFarlane figure could if not for how easy they detach from the connection ports (on top of the waist piece being not being flexible enough for articulation), slight rotation at the thighs, double jointed knees, ankles that hinge as well as pivot, and toe-ticulation.
Like the wave in general, we have a recolor that looks more like he was colored to be in fire than anything. Or he has been seen through infrared vision. Either way, he could have been saved for a wage featuring Wonder Woman, Green Arrow, Despero, and Cheetah; have there be regular versions of the figures we already got and the sprite versions being Platinums, and that way we can get a complete Task Force cast. The original Darkseid is in more classic colors, comes with alternate hands and head, and uses a wired cape. I know Darkseid has looked like this before, but I prefer my Darkseid's to live up to their names. And to be cape less (to the delight of Edna Mode).
Here we have Darkseid next to Superman. The scale between these figures should work mostly fine, but if you want your Darkseid to fit better, you should get the paint removers ready for the torso, gloves, and boots. The belt should use black paint over the printed detailing. Just sucks this is the best option for a darker Darkseid, and even more that the leg articulation kind of sucks.
And now, the conclusion! Plastic-Man is the best of the bunch thanks to his articulation and display options alone, on top of the personality he carries shining with the head sculpts. Onslaught is second best thanks to his design and from not having any need for a new sculpt. Abomination is in third because despite having a possibly better new sculpt for the Deluxe line up, he is still good for the most part. Darkseid fall short from the pixelated deco and limited hip articulation, especially with you requiring to remove said deco if you want a more vanilla yet darker Darkseid. Will I get more BAFs on their own? We'll see, because I sure as hell didn't like getting certain undercooked figures for the Stilt-Man and Armadillo waves back in 2021, and I sure don't want to go through the same mistake of completing a mid wave like the Mattel Josstice figures.
Final rankings: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Plastic-Man)
⭐⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Onslaught)
⭐⭐⭐ out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Abomination)
⭐⭐ and a half out of ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Darkseid)
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