Jay's Toy Shelf : McFarlane Toys - Hellbat (DC Multiverse)

Sunday, April 19, 2020

McFarlane Toys - Hellbat (DC Multiverse)

The Hellbat suit is a set of advanced armor designed by the Justice League to help Batman in encounters that require meta-human powers as he is one of the few that do not have any. Forged with the help of Superman, Aquaman, Wonderwoman, Cyborg, Green Lantern and The Flash, it is made of nanoparticles that can reassemble as pieces on voice command of the user. Batman first uses it in Batman and Robin Vol 2 #33 (Sept 2014) to retrieve Damian's sarcophagus from Darkseid on the planet Apokolips. The suit was also worn later on by Lois Lane to protect her son, Johnathan Kent.

Now this is my first McFarlane toys so before the full review, a few general impressions I get from interviews with McFarlane and other figures in his new DC Multiverse line:
- He's testing out many corners of the DC figure market to see what sticks thus why he's made animated versions, Arkham versions, DCEU film versions, and comic book appearance ones (no matter how obscure!)
- He's really trying to emphasize better articulation with his figures as he's done with the Fortnite line.
- He's not like 100% sure of his game plan

Now for this figure, I think it's just AWESOME. I mean if it was a 30 CAD statue, I probably still would have bought it. It's got amazing aesthetics, pretty decent articulation, few accessories but such a good shelf appeal. I bought both this figure and the Superman Unchained figure for that shelf appeal alone.

Sculpt/Paint: 4/5 It is an awesome sculpt! So shiny and the way they did the red motifs throughout is very clean and jumps out at you from the black. The body is covered in appropriate levels of spiciness. The wings are where things depart a bit, with the plastic being a lighter colour and looking a bit cheap in comparison to the rest of the body. Also technically bulkier and less accurate to the artwork it comes with, but that's a minor gripe.

Articulation: 5/5 (31 points) This is an interesting case. The figure has pretty limited range in SOME parts because of the bulkiness and in others, it's quite good. The head, diaphragm and waist ball joints are all somewhat limited but give some attitude. The shoulders with the butterfly cap work ok but don't offer a ton. The single jointed elbows, hinge-swivel wrists and shoulder pads that all have a good range. The best range is in the lower limbs: double-jointed knees, good hip range, ankles with good rockers and they even have a toe hinge! (strange as that may be on a figure this bulky).

Accessories: 3/5 His accessories are nothing to write home about but given how little he appears in comics, there's not a lot extra they could have done (though extra heads/hands would have been better for expression purposes). He comes with a stand (isn't actually wide enough for him, only enough to hold one foot) a bio card with the artwork, and his two wings. The wings don't look great close up, but from afar and spread out make him pretty imposing! They get stick in the back and can't swivel, but the midline of the wings can collapse to make a "cape" looking thing at his back.

Fun Factor: 4/5 Although he can't really balance in too many poses without risk of falling, he's just a beautiful looking action figure and is eye candy enough! He towers over most of my figures and I can see doing a lot of fun photography stuff with him.

Verdict: 16/20 Great On aesthetic alone this figure wins. The posing and options are just enough you can take some good photos. If you love to collect Batman figures, or his different suits of armor, or even just cool figures I highly recommend this one from McFarlane Toys.