McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse The Drowned - Dark Knights: Metal

 

Bryce Wayne was born to Martin Wayne on Earth - 11. Like the Batmans before, her father was shot by criminals. After rogue Metahumans killed her lover, Sylvester Kyle, Bryce went about killing every metahuman as revenge. The ruler of Atlantis in this world, Aquawoman, proposed a peace treaty that proved to be unreliable and resulted in an attack. Bryce responded by killing the Queen and taking the trident to eventually lead a surface army to defeat the Atlanteans. In retaliation for the Queen's death, the Atlanteans drowned Gotham and a good part of the world. In order to win the desperate war, Bryce modified her body to adapt Atlantean features such as hydrokinesis, fast healing and breathing underwater. She defeated the Atlantean empire, drowning the world. Becoming The Drowned, she was soon met by the Batman-Who-Laughs who proposed his multiversal scheme. Side note, shouldn't she be The Drowner? Anyway, onto the figure review!

As with all the Dark Metal designs I really love The Drowned character design. It's a mix of dark green, gray flesh of an undead person with the attire of a pirate and the cybernetic eye of a cyborg? Anyway, all put together it's cool. Here's a quick breakdown of the figure's merits!

McFarlane Toys Geralt of Rivia - Witcher 3 Video game (Kaer Morhen Armor)

 

Geralt is the legendary monster hunter protagonist of the Witcher book series and games. Witchers, for those unfamiliar, are magically mutated and highly trained monster hunters whose primary goals in life are to mercenary out their services in the practice of their craft. As the main character of the franchise, he is rough around the edges and brooding. He is also sympathetic and helpful (for some coins!). The game itself made him seem a lot more in touch with humanity than the books or other media make him seem. He carries two swords; his regular steel sword and his silver sword for monster slaying (many seem vulnerable to silver in this universe). Witchers have also undergone deadly trials of poisonous mutagens that give them enhanced strength, speed, and agility. Their eyes have mutated to be able to see well at night, and they are able to use rudimentary magic called signs.

This figure version of Geralt is wearing the standard armour he starts with out of Kaer Morhen, the training location of the School of the Wolf. They did fairly well for the sculpt and details here. The face isn't perfect to the game, being a bit of a soft sculpt for the contours of the jaw and cheeks. The articulation holds up fairly well with parts of the body being a rubbery overlay. I don't super like how when that is done, the figure barely crunches forward or back at all. He strikes a pose very well and has good reach with his arms for a double-handed sword grab or a sword draw. The only other thing I wish is that the swords were better painted. They're alright, but the blade itself starts to look somewhat like translucent plastic in the right light instead of solidly painted steel or silver colour. 

McFarlane Toys Eredin - Witcher 3 Video game

 

Eredin Breacc Glas AKA Sparrowhawk is the fearsome leader of the Wild Hunt in the appropriately titled Witcher 3: Wild Hunt video game by CD Projekt Red. It was a fantastic game, and I think I liked the two DLC's Blood and Wine and Heart of Stone as much as the original game story content. ANYWAY, Eredin is an elf who by succession becomes the leader of the wild hunt, whose original objective was to raid villages and take humans as slaves for the elves. Over time, they lose the ability to use gates to travel to different worlds. The only way to quickly travel again was to use Elder Blood, present in the mysterious Cirri, adopted by Geralt the Witcher. This said, Eredin for the main villain gets the LEAST screentime I've ever seen, not that it isn't impactful or ominous...but it's very little. 

This figure is a great representation of Eredin, full of great armoured textures, with a fantastically sculpted skull helm worn by him in the game. Too bad they never go with an unmasked head but instead save it for extra sales mileage in another figure that is nearly identical. A lot of the armour and parts are surprisingly rubbery, which I wasn't expecting. Even the shin guards! 

4th Annual Top 10 Most Viewed Figures!

 It's a few (*coughs many coughs) months late but I've finally gotten around to the 4th annual most viewed figures! This year I've dived headfirst into the absolute INSANE world that is McFarlane toys in a big way. As in, I've had to really push myself away from not collecting EVERY DC Multiverse toy that came along. Some were easy decisions (often mediocre face sculpts from live-action DC films) and others were tempting but from comic lines, I had never read nor cared a lot about (White Knight, Last Knight on Earth etc). Advance warning this list of 50% McFarlane, 20% import, and 30% older figures I recently got hold of. I did recently get a Spiderman PS4 figure THINKING it was the real thing but sadly it is a knockoff. Maybe one day if I get the real one I'll do another comparison. 

So here are the ten that you liked clicking on! 

NECA TMNT Shredder - 1990 Film

 

In Japan, Oroku Saki was a fierce rival of Hamato Yoshi, competing in just about everything including the love for Tang-Shen. Tang-Shen managed to convince Yoshi to escape to America with her. Seeking revenge for losing to Yoshi again, he follows them to New York and murders Tang Shen in cold blood. He kills Yoshi when he returns home, but his rat manages to attack and leave him scarred before escaping. 

Oroku later adorns himself in bladed metal armour and takes over the Foot clan, a gang of thieves and societal rejects that work together to build Shredder's criminal organization. In the movie the clan is mostly seen shoplifting and doing petty crime so...that's interesting! Not what you'd think a ruthless gang trained in martial arts weaponry would be doing. Eventually, April O'Neil starts discovering evidence of the gang, and only with the intervention of the turtles is the assassination attempt quashed.  

Out of the NECA TMNT I own, this is actually my favourite. Yes, you heard me right, the angry one-dimensional villain figure is my favourite. First of all HIS CAPE. Wow....just so shiny and metallic with a lot of good bendy wire. Secondly, his clothing is also sparkly. Third, all the blades are just perfect. There's a lot more that's great about this figure but easily a favourite of mine.

NECA TMNT Splinter - 1990s Film

Splinter comes into most of the TMNT franchise as the pet rat of the ninja Hamato Yoshi. The rat, Splinter, mimics his master's movements during practice. Later, when Hamato Yoshi fights with Oroku Saki (Later, Shredder). He is murdered, but Splinter escapes from his cage and claws at Saki's face, giving him his scars. Saki slices off Splinter's ear during the fight. Splinter escapes to the sewers of New York. Later a canister falls into the sewers along with four turtles and it mutates all five of them. Splinter names them and trains them in the ninjutsu of his master Hamato Yoshi. 

NECA as usual has done an amazing job of replicating Splinter to top-notch movie accuracy. They did a great job of shading and sculpting each line of fur, claws and bandages. The scale compared to the turtles is great. I'm not a big fan of cloth goods but in this case, it works well. Very tattered and loose-fitting. It's quite easy to remove as well. The ribbon that sinches it together is pretty strange. I would've almost preferred a soft rubber peg-in attachment belt. Overall though, fantastic figure to go along with the turtles! 

NECA Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (All 4) - 1990 Film

 

If you haven't seen the 1990's TMNT live-action movies just stop reading and go watch them all. Right now. I'm serious! They were great and like most properties from before the 2000s, full of nostalgia. I rewatched them on Netflix recently and it's interesting watching those movies when you're older. You start to notice stuff that is just kinda funny...I mean....the kids the Foot clan is using are just doing petty crime! That's hilarious. They're literally stealing toasters and TVs. These days it would be like hardcore gangster violence and high stakes heists. 

NECA does some licenses super well, and they've absolutely KILLED it with the NECA TMNT line. Every figure is so amazingly movie-accurate regardless of the scale. The paint and sculpt is amazing.  I got my second hand so they didn't come with all their accessories, one is misplaced (that is definitely not Donatello's staff) and one of Leo's swords broke in transit. What are you gonna do! 

DC Collectibles Azrael - Arkham City

 There's not a lot to dislike about the character design of Azrael. He's basically a modern-day knight with a massive badass sword. Sometimes his sword is flaming, sometimes his armor is arcane, but it's all cool no matter what. This design from Arkham City didn't make a ton of appearances except as cut scenes/dialogue for a side mission. I've reviewed a bit of his backstory here: Arkham Knight Azrael

This figure is pretty cool. He's got all the classic get-up of Azrael: armor, red suit, and cape (cape flanges?), a scabbard, and his sword. The sword is definitely not as imposing as the Knight version but still well done. This figure isn't as poseable as the Knight figure but still looks great on the shelf. The only design I don't quite get with the Arkham Azrael figures is the hockey mask. It's kinda Jason-y in optics. I always think of Azrael as more a holy avenger that sometimes is in the wrong, sometimes in the right. 

DC Collectibles Robin - Arkham City

I've said it before, but Robin's design in the Arkham games is kinda neat I think. The issue with Robin if you're trying to hide your identity is he only has a domino mask. Not very identity hiding, to be honest. He's got a short cape so it doesn't get in the way of his acrobatics but still hides his profile a bit from the back. He's got his hood up to hide most of his head, and some armoured boots and gauntlets. He has a bit of a side mission in Arkham City where you play as him for a short amount of time in order to rescue Batman. I really enjoyed the mechanics of his extending staff and bullet shield. 

This figure in particular is quite a bit of an articulation loss when it compares to the Mattel Legacy Robin or the Arkham Knight Robin. The paint isn't bad, though they skipped out on some valuable shading. What I don't quite get is he comes with a black, featureless staff. In the game, it is supposed to be dull grey metal, with ridges throughout to indicate the extension capabilities and reinforced nature. This is just....a long piece of black plastic cut to size. Anyway! It's not the worst but if it wasn't for the lot I wouldn't have bothered even though it's my favourite design between his appearances in City, Origin and Arkham Knight.  

DC Collectibles Hush - Arkham City

 As things run rampant in Arkham City, a man matching the description of Bruce Wayne appears to be up and murdering folk. It's up to you on this side mission to find out, and of course, it is Hush. Thomas Elliot is a sociopath and childhood friend of Bruce Wayne. You discover who it is, at which point he manages to escape and you don't really hear much about him until Arkham Knight. He is an exceptionally skilled surgeon who hunts down people who have face parts that match what he needs. Seems like a super elaborate disguise to me! Anyway, his face is usually bandaged in comics for healing from whatever face grafts he has undergone or is about to undergo.  

This figure has all the classic looks of Hush, they didn't really change much. He includes his long coat, armored body look, and two pistols that can be holstered. He's not the worst for articulation, but the range in the knees and elbows is just ok. This figure was also made with clear plastic pegs for the joints, so one arm was broken and had to be repaired with a metal wire and glue. It worked out, just don't look at the inside elbow joint too long! The only thing I would otherwise wish here is that they had included the fake Wayne face with all the suture lines!