Jay's Toy Shelf : McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse: The Flash

I'll be honest, I only got the Flash as it was part of the two-pack with Red Death. I wanted to complete my Dark Knights: Metal villain team of Batman-Who-Laughs, The Merciless, Dawnbreaker, Red Death, Infected Superman, Crow Robin(s), Devastator, The Drowned, and Murder Machine. All of those have been released in figure form, except for the Drowned. I have high hopes!

That said, he's a nice-looking Flash! I like the longer lightning pieces, and how you can plug in lightning effects to him (sadly, they didn't include them in the two-pack...why?!?). He is based on the DC Rebirth design of Flash (translation: Lets and MORE lightning to his suit). Some notable differences are the background of the Flash symbol on his chest is just the red of his suit, and the symbol itself is bigger and bolder. There are four lightning lines emanating from his symbol and the figure has more ribbed texturing on the sides of the torso, legs, and triceps. The crowning glory is the angry face sculpt. So well done!

I can appreciate this figure, and it's got some good points and is in keeping with McFarlane toys recent quality and articulation. I also appreciate that the Flash is a workhorse character of the DC multiverse. He's always bailing people out and resetting the timeline some comic book artists and writers can do something new haha! Go Flash!

Sculpt/Paint: 4/5 Did I mention I love the head sculpt? Sooo good. In fact, I love it over the smirking head sculpt that comes with the single pack Flash. He's got more to lose in this storyline, so it's appropriate! Gotta grit those teeth and have at that speed force. The rest of the figure is well detailed and any paint smudges are so minimal it's not noticeable unless you really study it. I like the texture details in the suit as well. One thing they miss out on doing here is adding some wash to the suit to make the texture of the suit front stand out a bit more. They went to the trouble to texturize it, make it pop! I get why they don't do it, these being cheaper figures (and I've been loving them), but there's the rub.

Articulation: 5/5 (32 points) He's got all the nice standards of articulation for the DC Multiverse McFarlane figures. My waist joint doesn't seem to want to twist much, but other than that they are solid joints and I find that this figure balances better. Maybe he's less top-heavy, or maybe it's the wider boots to support him. Either way, well done. The knee joints work well, and I've grown fond of the shoulder caps that allow more back to front shoulder movement. It does add!

Accessories: 2/5 I'll give this one the same as Red Death. He's got the standard stand, art card, and the large base that both he and Red Death can peg into. Extra hands and especially lightning effects are desired here, especially if you have the pegs for the Flash to put them in!

Fun Factor: 4/5 I may be belaboring this point, but the face sculpt makes this from a 3 to a 4. He's got better balance as well, and nice solid joints. I did not have a leg separation, unlike Red Death, so yay! I foresee putting him in some fun team and battle poses with my other 7-inch figures.

Verdict: 15/20 Solid release McFarlane Toys. Consider adding lighting effects and hands, and this one would be even higher in value in my books. I would normally not have bought him without this 2-pack, but now McFarlane has probably cleverly sent me down a road later of trying to get a Justice League set going since I have a Superman (infected), Batman (Arkham Asylum), and now Flash (DC Rebirth)! If you were looking to get this Flash or Red Death, get the villain squad off Dark Knights Metal, or just want a nice looking 7-inch Flash, I recommend getting this one and/or the grinning face version sold as a single.