McFarlane Toys Robot Batman - DC Retro Batman '66

DC did a run of Batman '66 comics that continued the run of the class Caped Crusaders from 2013 to 2016. An interesting addition to the Batman cast is Professor Overbeck, a genius scientist/inventor who creates a giant, metal crime fighter: Robot Batman! 

The scale is pretty crazy. If the comic cover is to be taken at face value, the thing appears to be over 20 feet tall. He can fly with jetfire boosters and has claws to grapple criminals. I never read the retro comics released but it seems like a neat idea (though admittedly this is not even close to the first time a robot Batman has been created and used by either side of the fight in Gotham).

This figure is very limited in poseability but it is still amazing that it was made at all. I will give McFarlane one thing: They dive deeply into many of their comic-related and other media-related lines. At this point, they've surpassed the DC Classics line for both the number of figures and variants on the figure colours and sculpts. Looks-wise, it is an awesome addition to your shelf. 

McFarlane Toys Blight - Batman Beyond Future's End (Build-a-fig)

 

This is another figure that I would not have picked up if not for completing the Jokerbot, but at least it's an aesthetically pleasing one! Blight is the villain name picked up by Derek Powers, the corrupt CEO of Powers tech who later also acquires Wayne Enterprises to merge into Wayne Powers. He is exposed to one of his own extremely dangerous chemicals in an accident, and decided it would be a brilliant idea to then try to cure himself with unchecked levels of radiation. Scientists in DC are really off the wall! It's always "lets use this jackhammer to take out a chipped tooth or something with these guys!". They are highly overboard in their approach. 

Blight, with his entire body being a radioactive dump, has himself sealed in a suit to control his radiation bursts. He can blast out radioactive energy, and his body alone has enough radiation to melt most physical attacks on his person. 

The figure comes with the wing/claws for the joker bot, a glowing grasping hand, and a regular one to swap out as well as the card/stand. I will say (and I need to remind myself of this next time I buy a figure) that McFarlane nearly always releases a single version of a figure with different parts. In this case, the Meltdown version of Blight that isn't a build-a-fig comes with two energy effects to put on his fists, which is a much better deal if you don't care about the build-a-fig. 

Mcfarlane Toys Shriek - Batman Beyond Future's End Build a fig

The Future's End line, except for Batman Beyond and Batgirl Beyond, is something I would never have purchased otherwise. That said, I enjoyed the animated series and dig the character design. Mostly though, I bought just enough to buy parts for the Jokerbot I figure what does it hurt to buy two more?! Capitalism wins again. 

I never knew about Shriek, maybe I missed the episode? Anyway, Walter Shreeve, a sound engineer drove his company into the ground, lucky for him Derek Powers acquired his company. He built a sound suit capable of demolition using sound waves, but Powers had other ideas. He commands him to kill Bruce Wayne, who is luckily saved by Batman. 

The look of the figure is pretty sweet. Whether you know or like this character, he seems to sub in easily for robot minion cannon fodder. I like how they handled the energy effect and the lights. Other than that, doing just a few colours with textured suit pieces is definitely McFarlane's wheelhouse. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Midnighter - DC Classic Gold Label

I was completely unaware of this character until I read the Grayson volumes of comics back in 2017. I always loved Nightwing as a character, and this was a sort of new phase of Nightwing's career as an Agent 37. He works for Helena Bertinelli's (Huntress) spy group Spyral, and he encounters Midnighter keeping an eye on Spyral. They initially clash, and later Grayson convinces Midnighter to join him in his fight against a cult group, the Fist of Cain. 

But Midnighters story is more or less that of a normal human bioengineered and enhanced with neural implants to give him abilities. He was initially part of a covert group, then transitioned to The Authority, which watches over world governments. He hasn't directly dealt with Batman, but he has with many of the Batfamily. He is usually depicted as a pretty violent, brutal fighter with superhuman speed, resilience, pain control, and strength. He is equipped with a neural implant that allows him to process every possible combat outcome. Basically, if there's a possibility he can win, he will!

The figure is pretty good, and this simple design and colour palette is exactly McFarlane's wheelhouse. I love that he comes with punching hands, but where were those with EVERY Batman figure?!? I also like the batons, but I don't remember him fighting with these; he was just using a bo staff. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Bat Joker - Batman Beyond Future's End (Build-a-fig)

 Batman Beyond is a great show, and it showcases some evolutions of the characters from the original Bruce Timm series, as well as a darker future. A prevalent villain (created by Batman and Cyborg, unintentionally) in the show is Brother Eye, an all-seeing artificial intelligence. Brother Eye sees human beings as a poison and seeks total control over humanity. To that end, Brother Eye has assimilated many heroes or forced them into hiding. It can meld its technology into organic beings to force them to its will. 

Brother Eye created Bat-Joker aka Jokerbot aka Jokerborg as an assassin to eliminate Terry McGinnis, the new Batman in the show. Bat-Joker has a dual personality set and head; the cunning and tactical analysis of Batman, and the viciousness of Joker combined with the order of the Eye. 

The figure is a really neat build a figure. The claws that look wing-ish at the back are more poseable than any backpiece I've ever seen, especially at this price point. The figure is tall and imposing, and the dual faces you can switch are pretty neat. There are no accessories in particular if you don't count the wing/claws which are meant to be part, but that doesn't take away from it being a really cool build-a-fig. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Riddler - Arkham City

 I previously reviewed a version of this Riddler by DC Collectibles here. He's the smarmy C-grade villain here with an overblown sense of superiority and intellect. He supplies all the very simple riddles and traps for Batman to waltz through, frustrating him to no end. I love how somehow he must have millions of dollars to make these elaborate traps just to secure a hostage or two, or hide a trophy in odd places. With all that money you'd think he'd be wealthy enough to create Arkham City itself! 

This figure is a superior sculpt to the DC Collectibles version. Those pants aren't as weird, the face is less crazy sideways with the mouth, and the proportions are better. The paint is definitely worse though, and it has the McFarlane points that not everyone loves (flat knees/elbows, lack of paint on details, awkward ratchets and the diaper rubber crotch). 

McFarlane Toys Solomon Grundy - Arkham City

 

Solomon Grundy has a few different origin stories. I believe the name (but not the origin story) is inspired by the 1842 English nursery rhyme of the same name: 

Solomon Grundy,
Born on a Monday,
Christened on Tuesday,
Married on Wednesday,
Took ill on Thursday,
Grew worse on Friday,
Died on Saturday,
Buried on Sunday,
That was the end,
Of Solomon Grundy.

This poem is quoted in the game, but the origins of the character differ. Initially, in the late 19th century, a wealthy merchant named Cyrus Gold is murdered and his body is disposed of in Slaughter Swamp. Fifty years later he comes back as a revenant type supervillain and occasionally anti-hero. He is initially a villain for Alan Scott's Green Lantern but crosses over and becomes a problem for other heroes. He's basically unkillable with both super strength and stamina. He seems to be partly made of the same life force as Swamp thing and is nearly invulnerable to fire, cold, magic and other energy attacks. 

In Arkham City his origin story is a bit different: first appearing in Batman: Arkham City, this version was a merchant who was murdered and had his body dumped in a swamp-like Lazarus Pit, where a strange thunderstorm combined with the pit's mystical properties to resurrect him as an effectively immortal zombie-like monster. He temporarily became part of a travelling circus before he was found by Ra's al Ghul, who realized the swamp's true nature and took him to Wonder City. Seeking to understand the pit's properties, Ra's repeatedly murdered Grundy until Wonder City was eventually shut down and Gotham City built over it, with the Iceberg Lounge being built over Grundy's prison. After the Penguin finds him, he uses Grundy to kill traitorous underlings and attempts to kill Batman, who eventually defeats Grundy.

McFarlane Toys Batman - Arkham City

 I have a lot of Arkham Batmen. Between DC Collectibles and DC Direct versions, I now own 9 different Arkham versions of Batman. Crazy! This one is better in a couple of ways than the Arkham Asylum version by McFarlane Toys, but disappointing in others. 

First, it uses nearly the exact same mould as the Asylum suit. The rivers and suit lines are the same, the arm and leg sculpt, and the boots, hands and neck build are identical. The articulation is almost identical except for one improvement and one stagnation. The Arkham Asylum Batman had these odd single jointed ratchet joint elbows that didn't move very far. Given that it was the start of McFarlane's venture into DC Multiverse licences and others, I let it go. Now though, everything, including shorter kid figures like Robin, has double-jointed elbows, so there's no excuse not to have that in all the figures. Hell, even Penguin had double-jointed elbows. It's insane that this Batman still uses the super old elbows. 

To the figure's credit, it's engineered slightly better at the torso. Now you can bend it better at the waist both back and forth and side to side. They must've raised the ball joint connection inside the torso because it is better that way than the Arkham Asylum figure. 

Other differences are the head sculpt, which has white eyes instead of the standard eyes in the game, but I don't mind that. The ears are still long while the face is a bit more reasonable in proportions. The gauntlets match the Arkham City suit and the cape has the side swoosh to emulate how the game has it drifting in the wind all the time in-game. The paint is much more lacking here than the other Arkham Asylum version, so that's also disappointing. It's an ok Batman figure, but given how many Arkham figures I have, I could have potentially skipped this one and gone straight for the Gold Label Solomon figure. 

McFarlane Toys Catwoman - Arkham City

 

I previously reviewed the story and the old DC Collectible figure of Catwoman here. This version of Catwoman is leagues better. First of all the face sculpt and paint apps are great. They are very accurate and most importantly don't look bloodshot! This has far more flexibility and articulation than even the Arkham Knight version of Catwoman, and comes with her signature whip! 

I didn't get to do any comparison pictures here since I had to pack away a bunch of figures to make room in the hobby room. The size is roughly the same as the DC Collectibles, but the DC collectibles has very strange proportions. 

My biggest gripe though has to be the rubber crotch area. McFarlane always makes rubbery crotches and most of the time they pass inspection. Usually, a character has a belt or some waist feature that visually blocks it off and reinforces the illusion. Here though, the diaper crotch part is really big. WAY too big, especially the butt. To make matters worse, because she has a flexible ab crunch, leaving it in that position exacerbates the gapping, making it look even worse than it usually would on these figures. Eeeesh. Still very fun to pose though! 

McFarlane Toys Penguin - Arkham City

 I've previously reviewed the DC Collectibles version of the Penguin from Arkham City here. I do like this version in terms of personality and how it is Arkhamfied to fit the game's aesthetic and darkness. This release I mostly bought for the Solomon Grundy parts, not cluing in early enough that of course they would release a gold label version with some more interesting paint apps. Foiled again like one of Batman's C-class villains! 

This version of the penguin purports a more sneering angry face! His accessory umbrella is about the same with more brass instead of silvery paint. He's actually got moving joints on his legs! Wow! That said, Penguin isn't much of an action character, so while you can do some limited things here, it's not over the top. One thing I don't quite get is that his hat isn't removable. His bandaged hand clearly looks like it is meant to both tip his hat and carry it! He's a decent figure all the same if you missed out on the first DC Collectibles penguin or if you just wanted the Solomon parts and he was an alright addition! 

McFarlane Toys Ra's Al Ghul - Batman: Arkham City (Build-A-Solomon Grundy)

 I've reviewed a Ra's Al Ghul figure before for the more realism-bent Christopher Nola Batman trilogy, but today I finally have a figure of the Arkhamverse version. In an attempt to rid Gotham of its worst criminal elements, Ra's and his league of shadows secretly fund the plan to create Arkham City. Batman, on the heels of the last game having been poisoned by Joker's Titan toxin needs some decades old blood to fight off the side effects, and who better than Ra's to get it from! After a tense encounter, he defeats him and takes some of Ra's blood. He later meets Ra's again when, unsatisfied with how Hugo Strange is handling Protocol 10, sees Ra's plunge his sword through Hugo! The more I think about Arkham games (except maybe Arkham Knight) the more I realize they put in too many villains from Batman's rogue gallery, giving each of them not quite the time they deserved (or maybe too much in Riddler's case).

The figure is pretty close to the game appearance, with some pretty impressive details, such as the well done tattooed dragons on his arms. It's a pretty good figure, and miles better than what I saw of the DC Collectibles release back in the day! After getting Talia Al Ghul from the older figures back in the day and seeing how bad it was, I decided not to buy all the figures. He's got good articulation and is a welcome addition to the Arkham rogues! 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Batwoman - Batman Beyond: Futur'es End Build-a-Fig

 

The daughter of Dick Grayson, Mayor of Bludhaven, is Elainna Grayson. Through involvement with Matt McGuiness, Terry McGuinness (Batman), Bruce Wayne and her father, she became aware

and involved in various crimefighting plots. Though she promised her father she wouldn't become involved in the hero's life, she eventually took up the Batsuit when Terry McGuiness had his identity stolen by False Face. She's had some combat training in the armed forces, and is also a bit of demolition expert! She demonstrates this in her fight with Blight where she levels a building on him! 

I like the style of the suit's shoulder pads, belt and eyepieces. The wings have the exact same problem as the Terry McGuiness Batman figure. The figure has a bit more range even than the Batman figure in the build-a-fig wave, and the diaphragm joint has an improved back bend. Nice!

Overall a really nice figure, the alternate figure has the unmasked head and jetfire for the boots, which is very tempting! One criticism I have is the same I have for many female figures, the FEET. They are very human barefoot shaped at the bottom as well as being small which makes them hard to balance and pose. DAMMIT. I need toy companies to listen here, stop doing this. In fact, all figures except big, animals, and bare-footed figures, make the bottoms of the feet flat. I don't care canonically what it is supposed to be, make it FLAT. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Batman - Batman Beyond: Future's end Build-a-figure

 

Bruce Timm's Batman: The Animated Series is probably one of the most beloved animated Batman shows of all time. I certainly loved it as a kid, even though at the time I wasn't actually super into Batman (TMNT and Xmen was more my thing at the time). The show was followed up by New Adventures and then eventually Batman Beyond, a futuristic sci-fi cyberpunk setting 20 years later. That means 2019. Oh dear, if only they knew what we know now! 

Terry McGuiness is the new Batman under the tutelage of a very old Bruce Wayne. The themes of the show are much darker than the first two shows despite being developed by the same people. I quite liked the show, and am in general fond of when shows take characters ahead in time to tell different stories of how they've grown and changed. The new Batman of the future has a suit that conforms to his body, has thrusters and gliding wings for flight, and is generally immune to bullets, lasers, electrical shocks etc. Pretty supped up! It isn't hard to make a good figure out of this iteration of Batman, and for the most part, McFarlane nails it.

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Lobo - Rebirth

 Lobo first appeared in comics in the 80s, as a bounty hunter alien from the planet Czarnia. He was shelved for a while and came back in the 90s. From the animated shows and movies I've seen, he is a mix of personalities between Wolverine and Punisher. I'm not even 100% sure of his abilities all the time, except maybe super strength and regeneration. Is he immortal...I think? Perhaps he's a bit Deadpool-like as well? At any rate, he rides around space in his space hog motorcycle, taking contracts. Sometimes he sides with the heroes and other times takes the villain's money. 

Every time Lobo has shown up, he's been kind of a badass. I sort of like this figure as something that could be good, evil, an alien biker gang leader, or whatever! He fits a few niches. They did an awesome job of the biker look, kneepads, facial expression and special mention for the awesome back of the biker vest! He comes with his signature hook and chain which is done fairly well. He's got a good heft to him and can get in some decent poses. This purchase for me was sort of out of left field, since I know very little about the character, don't have a lot invested in buying him, and wasn't even planning on buying him when I first saw the release. That said, I'm happier with him than I am with some other McFarlane figures! 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Red Robin (Tim Drake) - New 52

 

Who is the best Robin? Well out of the primary 4; Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne, my favorite often changes but I quite like Damian Wayne's brutal intensity alongside Batman. One thing is for sure, Tim Drake is the most analytically intelligent. He spent the shortest time as Robin before he was deployed to do his own thing as Red Robin. Then going back to Robin. Because comics! 

McFarlane Toys Arkham Origins Deathstroke Vs. DC Collectibles Arkham Origins Deathstroke

 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 Origins Deathstroke figures. A note: This comparison uses an unhelmeted DC Collectibles version vs. a McFarlane version I actually added paint to because it lacked so much paint. 

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

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

 

The Dark Father is a Batman from one of the Dark Multiverses that defeated Darkseid and acquired his powers as well as mastery of the Anti-Life equation. He even changed the parademons into pararobins! Interesting. Anyway, he is put in charge of powering the sun or at least making the captured Superman of the new world power it anyway. The Death Metal Batman and Wonderwoman infiltrate...the Sun I guess! and free Superman, who punches Dark Father out into space! Theatrical to say the least. 

This figure isn't what I was looking for, but overall it's not bad. After buying the Death Metal figure line, you assemble all the pieces, and they fit pretty nicely, but not so tight you are worried about disassembling him. He has pretty decent range of motion, especially in the legs. The cape is a bit boring, flat with a peg in piece at the back and front to keep it from flopping everywhere. I do like the cracked skin details and metal look to him, though it's not like, a very strong presentation. I kinda wish he came with his Omega beam gun from the comics and maybe a smirky look instead of the blank look we got, but what are you gonna do?

McFarlane Toys Batcycle - Dark Knights: Death Metal

 

This just an amazing vehicle that I couldn't pass up. I did pass on many of the other McFarlane vehicles, mostly because they don't really fit in my collection vision. I am very tempted by the upcoming Batmobeast, an evil Batman who is a sentient car (this Dark Knights line is so crazy), but it's so huge I wouldn't know where to put it. If I'm going to get a vehicle that big, it'll be an actual Batmobile I'm looking for. 

This one has amazing sculpt details in all the bone textures, the bat face, and the details of the bike parts. It's hard not to criticize some things in my head like "uh, that's not how those bones look...and those shouldn't even be bones!" but I push it aside because it just looks so neat. The bike completes the Death Metal look and makes me want to get the scythe death metal Batman version (probably won't unless there's a sale). The bike has working wheels that are well made, and turn at a swivel point too! 7-inch figures look pretty comfortable on it, but six-inch and true six-inch figures make it look a little too big. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Batman - Dark Knights: Death Metal

 

The Death Metal comics wouldn't be metal without a sweet Batman in a spiked trenchcoat and a crazy scythe guitar, amirite?! This version of Batman only appears as a variant cover for the Death Metal comics. Taking place in the time after Perpetua is freed and the Source Wall falls, he struggles with the other heroes who survive to take back control of the Multiverses. Batman in this verse uses a black lantern ring to resurrect the dead and leads his army of zombies astride his Batcycle to fight the Batman-Who-Laughs. Pretty sweet imagery!

In the comics, he is mostly portrayed holding a scythe while riding a skeletal Batcycle (guess which review is next??), but I couldn't pass up on this version. He is fairly well articulated despite the trenchcoat limitations and obviously, the guitar is hella sweet. They did a pretty decent job of the paint, but once again miss some small areas like the lack of paint on his shoulder jacket spikes. 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Wonder Woman - Dark Knights: Death Metal

 As the Earth is enveloped by the Dark Multiverse, everything is transformed into a hellish landscape. Many heroes are captured or killed. Wonder Woman forges a new weapon made of her lasso and invisible jet to create a Chainsaw of Truth (I did not make this up!). The chainsaw radiates Anti-Crisis energy (I feel very lost in these comics sometimes), and with it, she is able to go toe to toe with The Batman Who Laughs and his Dark Knights. 

This is a pretty awesome look for Wonder Woman. I love the armour, the helmet piece, and even the strange chainsaw! And can we talk about the cool blue hair?? Amazing. The figure, despite having heels, stands fairly well as they are pretty wide and solid. The sculpt and paint are great here, and the articulation is better than the others in Death Metal. The articulation range is pretty unhindered for the most part. This is a good figure!