McFarlane Toys Deathstroke - Arkham Origins

 

Probably the coolest of all the DC Villains after Joker, Deathstroke is the Batman (with extra experimentation!) of the villain world. A gadget and martial arts villain, he really shines in the Arkham Origins game. The fight scene at the beginning is probably the best cut scene in the game hands down, and later on, he is the toughest boss in the Arkham franchise, especially if you play New Game Plus mode. 

I've previously reviewed Deathstroke from DC Collectibles here: DC Collectibles DeathstrScuoke. That figure did some things better than this one, some worse. I actually like the darker tones on the figure BUT there were a lot of areas that were not painted compared to both that figure and the game source material. Like, the left chainmail rib side wasn't painted at all. It's just so weird! Why McFarlane? Why you gotta rush your process so much? I actually went ahead and painted silver for the ab plating outline, the chainmail, and black over some of the battle damaged textures. It wasn't great but it looks much better than the plainness that was there before. I would much prefer McFarlane make fewer figures of higher quality and price than do stuff like this honestly. ANYWAY, it's decent for posing, the blade is bent but of a good sculpt. He is a bit lacking in accessories though, since he really only comes with the blade and that's it. No staff? Also, the nicely painted gun is sculpted and not something that can be removed from the holster. Missed opportunity! 

For all my gripes it is a decent enough figure and I like having a helmeted version of the character from the game that can scale well with the other McFarlane Arkham figures. 

McFarlane Toys Arkham Knight Batman Vs. DC Collectibles Arkham Knight Batman

In full credit to Toy Galaxy's youtube channel for when Dan did comparisons between two of the same figures from different companies or lines, this is a quick comparison of the two Arkham Knight Batmans: DC Collectibles vs. McFarlane toys. A note: This comparison uses the Battle Damaged version from DC collectibles as I never got the original! 

Here are our categories!     Sculpt and Paint
                                            Overall Accuracy
                                            Accessories
                                            Articulation
 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Batman - Arkham Knight

 I've previously reviewed a DC Collectibles Arkham Knight Batman here: Arkham Knight Batman. It was a pretty decent figure with some flaws. I hadn't realized at the time to check, but that was a battle-damaged version with some mud and paint details added. My main complaint with the DC Collectibles one was the head size: it was way too small. In general, the proportions on that one weren't great though I will say it did have good paint detail and very shiny shoulder pads. I will do a comparison post shortly. 

This one is far nicer in many respects: Decent proportions, the sculpt details clearly show all his armoured parts, and he's got the bulkiness in the right places. He's fairly well-articulated but has fewer paint details. The accessories are enough here but no paint and AGAIN, no punching hands. This is a character you play in a video game that is literally punching enemies all the time when he isn't using gadgets or the batmobile.

DC Collectibles Firefly - Arkham Origins

In the Arkham Universe,  Garfield Lynds is a former FX artist for Panessa studios and raging pyromaniac. After being fired from his job, he later gets a job working for the military developing torching weapons. An accident causes him to be lit on fire, burning part of his body. He steals a military-grade suit and jetpack and causes havoc to the city. In Origins, he is hired as one of the 8 assassins to kill Batman. He plants bombs under a bridge as a trap for Batman and tries to burn him up! It does not go as planned. 

I quite like this design for Firefly. Most of the time he's got a strange skin-tight suit, regular-looking jetpack, goggles, and a flamethrower. This one is neat in how his wings have fans and reminds me a lot of how they did Vulture's wings in Spiderman: Homecoming. He helmet with goggles and other armor pieces add to a much cooler-looking Firefly. That said, he's not super poseable, and the wings and tubing that leads to his gun can be frustrating to the point where I actually glued the wings in place. I was able to get him for a lot cheaper than he is sold online. This is HARD to find. I feel like I spent three years searching for this one for under 100. Now, the 8 assassins are complete!!!