Thursday, February 9, 2023

Action Figure Review: Wonder Woman from Super Powers by McFarlane Toys

 
   
   Today I'm checking out the third of the figures in series 3 of McFarlane Toys' Super Powers line: Wonder Woman! Wonder Woman was one of the original figures from the first series of the vintage line and it's about darn time she showed up in this new series, right? She's wearing a more modern outfit but still looks absolutely recognizable as Princess Diana of Themyscira. She's also been given a cape here, but you ca easily take it off if you'd like. She's versatile. Let's take a look at the Super Powers Wonder Woman after the break...






The Facts:

Height: 4 5/8ths inches

Articulation: Hinged knees, swivel hips, swivel shoulders, and a swivel head.

Accessories: Cape

Non-Scalper Price: $10 dollars








The Positive:

* I really like this Wonder Woman design. It looks like a mix of Wonder Woman's Post Infinite Crisis redesign by Terry Dodson and the Rebirth look. It's got the modern, more armored bits in places, but it also has the classic blue shorts, which look fantastic here. The colors are excellent and all of the paintwork is neat and clean. Gold arm bands, her silver bracers, a cool "W" shaped belt; there's just a lot going on. She's definitely one of the most intricately designed of the Super Powers yet and the standout of the main three. 


* Wonder Woman's portrait is also quite lovely, especially considering she's under five inches. It's a nice mixture of vintage styling with a bit more of a modern touch. I honestly think she might be a bit too modern looking to fit perfectly into a vintage Super Powers collection but, since I don't have a vintage Super Powers collection, I'm not that worried. Her tiara looks fantastic, too. It's really nicely detailed. 





* Wonder Woman comes with a plain red cape and it's much nicer than either Superman's cape or Batman's cape. The material is much better and it feels like a more quality piece of material. It's definitely more reminiscent of those vintage Kenner capes than what we saw in the first series of this Super Powers revival.





* Here's a shot of Wonder Woman's incredibly cool boots and a better glimpse at the nicey printed stars on her shorts. Excellent detail and excellent paintwork. I'd love to see this design make it into the DC Multiverse line.

* Since these figures are kind of a tribute to the vintage Kenner line (and seem designed to fit in with those figures for the most part), the articulation is the same as the Kenner figures: Swivel hips, swivel shoulders, a swivel neck, and hinged knees. The hinged knees definitely set Super Powers apart from most other Kenner lines Diana's knee joints will allow her to sit in the upcoming Invisible Jet vehicle. The quality is really good here and Wonder Woman is sturdy and capable of handling posing and play.

The Negatives:



* What's that on Diana's shoulder? I actually think it's a small stain from her cape. Yikes! She comes packaged wearing the cape so there's no way to tell if your figure has a stain or not.

FYI:

* The cape is well mad but getting it clipped around Wonder Woman's neck is a pain. I had to kind of turn her head and clip the cape around the front/ side of her neck, then rotate the cape under her hair. It's just a tricky thing to get on. I actually kind of like her better without it, anyways. 

   I really like this version of Wonder Woman, particularly due to the design and the fantastic sculpting and paintwork. She's very much an ideal look in my eyes, though I imagine plenty of other folks will want her to look more classic. Still, she's a nice figure and it's a shame that she has the stain on her shoulder from the cape. It's also a shame that she doesn't come with her Lasso of Truth or even a sword. Why not? Is Warner Bros. banning lassos now or something? It's a weird accessory to leave out, especially for a Super Powers line. She's still a Good and a 1/2 figure, though, and a nice version of Wonder Woman. 



I've reviewed so many reviews of Wonder Woman/ Princess Diana of Themyscira that he has her own review archive. Check out The Wonderdome for all of my Wonder Woman reviews.

For more Super Powers reviews check out the following:
Deathstroke
Nightwing





11 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I like it quite a bit. It's not full on retro, but not truly modern. It looks a little like Gal Gadot, too. Just a litte.

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  2. How is it they can make this great looking, more than 5POA figure for $10 and Super 7 is double that for retro look 5POA? Crazy! Probably because they're a smaller company but still...

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    1. Super 7 also makes 7' figures for 60-80€ and McFarlane does the same but for 20-30€.

      Super 7 is not a smaller company, it's that unlike McFarlane (in figures only), Super 7 are greedy as hell.

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    2. From some numbers I found, McFarlane actually has a few less employees than Super7, although McFarlane's annual revenue is about 4 times what Super7's is. McFarlane's been around a bit longer, though, and has more retail partners. Both are privately held companies.

      I've really liked Super7 in the past. I first became aware of them due to ReAction, when they were sculpting for Funko, and when they licensed Masters of the Universe for a few years. Their product has always been... inconsistent. Their ReAction figures are really nice, but, yeah, they're pricier than you'd expect. The Ultimatesn are all over the place, though. I've had some that were amazing, like Toxie and the first Conan, and others that are very flawed, like many of the more recent TMNT releases and the Worst Ultimates Batula. They do a lot of accessories and nice packaging, but there's definitely a high cost.

      Ever since I was reading interviews with Todd McFarlane back when ToyFare magazine was around, I've always been impressed with how he legitimately seems to care about what his company produces and the value. Sometimes he does make weird calls and decisions, but I've rarely ever picked up a McFarlane release and felt that it was overpriced.

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    3. About the serial killer comment, then, in McFarlane's eyes, My Little Pony collectors are psychotic dangerous terrorists and Spider-Gwen fans are rapists? Come on, how can a guy whose company makes She-Spawn and Batgirl figures say that kind of hogwash??

      About the side-eyes thing, people say that it works like a "Mona Lisa effect" and somehow umproves the style and QC, but for me that always fucks up the figure. So, if i had a Lex Luthor, he can only point a gun or look to a guy who is on his left? Crap, how the hell will he turn right in a car that way, if he can only watch to his left? Hahaha!

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    4. If you watch the interview (which I haven't seen it came out last year), it's clear that Todd McFarlane did say it in jest, but it was a weird comment. And yeah, McFarlane Toys does make and has made plenty of female action figures. Heck, they were reliably releasing women in toylines long before most other companies.

      In context, his comment really was about how difficult it was under some companies to find an action figure of the main characters and super heroes that a young boy would want, justifying why he makes sure that Batman and Superman are always available on store shelves. It was a weird comment and a bad joke, but I get his reasoning. I mean, right now, could you reliably walk into your nearest retailer and find an action figure of Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, Darth Vader, or the Mandalorian? I couldn't. But between McFarlane and Spin Masters, I can reliably find Batman and Superman in some form if I want to.

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    5. That is true about many of his Superman and Batman figures being variants, but it apparently what sells the most. I've seen a few of the Batman movie figures here and there (Penguin, Drifter Bruce Wayne, and Catwoman variants), but Batman himself, Riddler, and the motorcycle disappeared quickly.

      I definitely wanted the women in the line as a kid, too. Getting Janine was the greatest thing in the world. Heck, even when G.I. Joe Sigma 6 was out in 2005/2006 and I was recently married, Hasbro was still giving the line about women not selling, and thus we never got Scarlet, Baroness, or Jinx in that series. Todd's joke was definitely stupid and in poor taste, though, but I kinda wonder if it was in reference to Hasbro having quite a few female figure pegwarming shelves hard over here at the time. The Eternals were notorious pegwarmers, a line with a strong mix of women, and the Classified Series Lady Jayes were filling Walmart shelves. Heck, they still are. I don't think that's any indictment of female action figures, by the way, but Hasbro's poor case ratio and overshipping for the 3rd (?) series of Classified Figures and just the weak reception for the Eternals. Still, the Walmarts near me have hardly stocked standard Classified Series figures to date.

      McFarlane is getting better about women in the line, but it's definitely one of the weakest part of the DC Multiverse line. Hasbro does an awesome job of mixing up their offerings and Mattel does a pretty solid job as well. With McFarlane we're on the fourth year with DC Multiverse and there is still no standard Batwoman (Kate Kane), Supergirl, Poison Ivy, a classic Wonder Woman, nor comic Harley Quinn.

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  3. Mine also had the red stain on both shoulders, and I've tried both alcohol and nail polish remover to no avail. I also think she looks much better without it, but it looks like she has uneven sunburn or some kind of rash on her shoulders. I'd rather she came with a sword than a cape, honestly.

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    1. She does look better without the cape. It seems like there's a Rebirth variant of this Wonder Woman coming, so I bet she'll have a sword and possibly a shield, too. I wanted a Lasso of Truth, though.

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  4. Yeah, it just seems to be leached into the plastic.

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