Jay's Toy Shelf : McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse: Red Death

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse: Red Death - Dark Knights: Metal

So you're Batman AKA Bruce Wayne in the Dark Multiverse of Earth - 52. You've apparently lost a lot of Robins (what the heck), and your world is about t end via some of your Rogues gallery. You need the Flash's power of the speed force (why)! He refuses! So you chain him to the Batmobile, modifying it into a cosmic treadmill and somehow force him to use the speed force! (This is so wacky). He fuses into you, so now you're Batman but also the Flash, renaming yourself the Red Death. You end up killing a ton of your rogues' gallery but find a tempting offer from The Batman Who Laughs the only way to stop the eternal destructive cycle of these Dark multiverses is to ascend to the regular Multiverses! So you join forces.

I love reading the Dark Knights: Metal for the crazy characters and this is definitely one of them. Red Death looks like he has a Batmanesque mask with a dark crimson body design similar to the Flash. The figure is spot on. I found out though he had a disconnected hip joint out of the box and the swivel was so stiff I had to boil and refit it to get it to work. That aside, it's a pretty nice figure! Very comic accurate, not much for accessories and came in a two-pack alongside the Flash himself!

In my goal to collect the Secret Six, this was a must-have, and needless to say, most posts from now on will be McFarlane and will be Dark Knights Metal related!

Sculpt/Paint: 5/5 Really nice representation from the comics. I like the design and how the Bat symbol is broken by the lightning bolt's negative impression. Some thought went into that! The suit pieces are pretty well painted and the paint is a mix of the mattes of the main red crimson and the brighter glossy reds of the gloves, boots, and highlights.

Articulation: 4/5 (31 points) Pretty decent articulation here that is standard of Mcfarlane toys. Nice range in the double knees and elbows, and the ankles and wrists swivel and hinge well on the pins and large ball joints. The hips have square inside pegs with swivels. My figure's hip was so frozen it dislocated off the joint. I had to heat it and twist it until it got a smooth motion in order to replace the leg and have it all work out! The head, waist joint, and diaphragm joint don't have a ton of range but decent enough. There's also a toe hinge...not necessary, but it's there!

Accessories: 2/5 This was going to be a 1 since he only comes with a stand and card. He does however have a shared base to be used with the Flash figure he comes with that allows for a spot of diorama-ing. The base has some highlights that make it stand out and I like the pitted rocky texture of it.

Fun Factor: 3/5 I really like the look of Red Death. The speedster design is unique, makes him look great next to other Dark Knights Metal villains, and his inclusion with Flash makes for some nice showdown opportunities. I find it kinda odd how much smaller his proportions are compared to the flash. I mean, by most comic book standards the flash is under 6 feet and Batman is 6'2 so that's odd though he is from a different multiverse so! There's that. One criticism I find that's true of nearly every Mcfarlane DC toy I have is that they are very top heavy which makes them harder to balance. Nightwing is the worst for this, but the Red Death doesn't do well independently either! That stand they come with really is necessary in some cases.

Verdict: 14/20 He's a pretty good figure and if you're into wacky versions of the Flash or Batman or a Dark Knights Metal fan, definitely pick up this two-pack! The only disadvantage this one has over the singles is that Flash doesn't come with cool lightning effect accessories to hang onto his body.