Mattel Vampire Batman - Batman Unlimited

 

There have been many famous toy lines that have inspired tv shows and film: Transformers, He-Man, G.I. Joe, My Little Pony to name a few. Certainly less famous, yet still inspired by a toy line, is Batman Unlimited. Spawning several direct-to-video movies and three seasons of a show, there have been a few different action figures in different styles. I own one, Batgirl, in her classic New 52 uniform, and now this Vampire Batman. It's too bad he never appeared in the show, because he looks amazing. There have been many comics where the temptation to make Batman a vampire has been too great: the Batman & Dracula trilogy to name one. I get it! Imagine Batman as a super-strong mutant that can fly! Reall would it have been so bad if that was Batman all along?? 

Anyway, this figure is a product of 2015, with pretty classic Mattel articulation. He comes with a single accessory, some kind of red dagger/cross which I don't have since I got this in a lot sale. Regardless, he's pretty cool and I couldn't resist a clean-looking, undead version of Batman to go along with my many, many other iterations of the character. 

Bandai 2003 Kakashi Hatake - Naruto

 We're back with another figure of Kakashi Hatake, only this is an extremely rare one. If you hadn't seen my most viewed post ever, Bandai 2003 Sasuke, you may not know that this figure is part of the same limited line that was made in 2003 alongside Naruto, which for the life of me I can't find anywhere. At the time, these were the most poseable figures from the show released in Japan. The character of Kakashi I've gone over quickly here (SH Figuarts Kakashi) but in case you didn't know, he is the teacher and leader of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno and Sasuke Uchiha from the anime Naruto. This is one of my favourite characters alongside Shikamaru and Naruto himself. He is a famous ninja in the world, using a wide array of techniques mastered over his years in the ninja wars. 

Like the Sasuke figure, he is chock FULL of accessories including the art scroll which someday I will find a way to hang so that it doesn't get exposed too much to dust and light. He is shorter and less poseable than the SH figuarts Naruto line, but that doesn't stop this figure from being pretty great in its own rights. 

IN OTHER exciting news, SH Figuarts is revisiting the Naruto line with exciting new face plates and advanced articulation. From the promotion pics I'm pretty excited. ESPECIALLY because they are finally making a female figure for the line, Sakura Haruno. You can be I've already preordered all three even though I have a few Naruto figures at this point and one teenage Sasuke. Visit Hobbylink or Tamashii nations directly to see promo pics and preorders! 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Damien Wayne - Teen Titans

 There have been many Robins over the years, but four stand out namely: Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, and Damian Wayne. I like Dick Grayson better as Nightwing, Jason better as Red Hood, which leaves the other two. I really like Damian Wayne. Is he somewhat sociopathic? Sure, but that's because he was raised by Talia and his grandfather, Ra's Al Ghul. I think Tim Drake is still the best Robin on paper though. Smart, tech-savvy, excellent detective, and a really good leader. 

This is a pretty good scale and look for robin. He's got the yellow fringe and red, the nice black cape, hood, and long green gloves and boots. Everything you need! He also has the green mask, something that is standard for Damian as opposed to the other robins. I like his somewhat surly downturned mouth look, captures that contemptuous nature of Damian. What I'm not fond of is his sword. It's really supposed to be Deathstroke's sword but I would've much preferred Robin's katana. This one is too long and it's almost everyone's reviews and pictures I can see --including my own-- it's bent like crazy. 

McFarlane Toys Primaris Space Marine Hellblaster - Warhammer 40,000

 

Ral Partha and Warhammer/Warhammer 40K were the first things that got me into the miniature painting hobby. Typically 28 mm in scale, assembling, painting, detailing and putting decals on these was an obsession of mine in high school. It was just fun! I did actually play a few games after building up a small army of Blood Angel space marines, but never quite had the money for anything large like a tank or dreadnought. Anyway! Noticing McFarlane has been making a few of these, I passed on most of them, but there's a couple I'm interested in. I had to pick this one up because it just SANG Blood Angel to me. A few things have changed since I played the game, namely the Primaris title. I guess they are an even more advanced space marine. Ok! 

There are many cool people that do this hobby, but unfortunately, it does seem to attract a lot of bigots. To be fair the primary story doesn't really make you feel morally good about any particular side. Everyone is basically just teams of space colonizers in one form or another, or being oppressed by Space Marines. 

That said, this is a huge, bulky, and amazing figure representation. I love the colours, detail and I'm very very surprised at how easy it is to pose. It may have a lot to do with the weight and heft, to be honest! I probably won't collect lots from the 40k line, but at least a few Zer...I mean Tyranids! and maybe any more Blood Angel-looking ones. This one also had a gold label Lieutenant release which looks great. 

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! 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Superman - Dark Knights: Death Metal

In the Dark Knights: Death Metal storyline, Perpetua is freed from her prison and takes over the Multiverse. Many DC heroes are locked up in New Apokolips, Superman being one of them. As Wonderwoman comes to rescue him, she finds him changed. The Dark Father has imprisoned him to power the sun, whilst using the Anti-Life equation to weaken him. Normally Superman is resistant, but with a constant drain on his powers, while being used as a human battery, he is vulnerable. It isn't explained very well, but it seems he has absorbed or taken over by the Anti-Life equation, making his arm undergo some metamorphosis. 

This changed version of Superman only lasts for the comic run, at which point the multiverse is restarted, kicking off the ending and the Future State storyline. I do like his design and rocker aesthetic that goes well with Death Metal Batman and Wonder Woman. I do think that because of some missed paint areas and a head that is perhaps too unSuperman looking, he is the weakest figure in the Dark Father set. It's a mix of just off painting and sculpting with it kind of not being impressive enough on its own. I'll be honest, I wouldn't have bought this. My main reason is I wanted 3 out of 4 of the wave and figured one more would allow me to build the figure, which, might as well if you only need another couple of pieces to complete! 

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Robin King - Dark Knights: Metal

 Yet another Bruce Wayne of the Dark Multiverse is Robin King. Even though I've read the comics and have done some cursory searching, there's no listed Earth negative number for him, but basically, imagine if Bruce had been homicidal as a kid. In this story, Bruce stabs the mugger in the alley, THEN kills his parents with the mugger's gone! Sounds like there were lots of red flags before this...so....yikes!

Hearing a robin chirp at his parent's funeral, he took that as a delusional sign of joy, and eventually became a leader of youths who would overthrow the old order of power. He would lead them and become the Robin King, and eventually when Perpetua executes her plan with the Batman-Who-Laughs to take over the Multiverse, would be in charge of the Crow Robins. 

This figure looks pretty neat. I like the face application and general design. I think that's the big draw for me to all the Dark Metal figures: how they capture a dark, corrupted alternate version of Batman with a quick backstory and a sweet aesthetic design. Being a smaller figure, they've gone the route of their other scaled-down figures of having slightly fewer points and poseability. His one, in particular, is kinda rubbery-overlay feeling many places, and the ankles are difficult to balance despite the large boot size.