Friday, September 1, 2023

Action Figure Review: Superman Vs. Doomsday from DC Multiverse by McFarlane Toys

 

   Looking back about 30 years now, the Death of Superman really seemed like a big deal. I remember my dad coming home from work and telling my mom and I that he'd heard it on the radio. Yeah, Superman didn't stay dead for long (who has in comics?), but the story is well known and has been adapted and retold many times over. McFarlane Toys definitely seems to be hitting some of the highpoints of the DC Universe lately, at least from the last 30 years or so, and the Superman Vs. Doomsday set pays homage to the well known storyline. Or does it? Well, it seems this set is actually based off of the 2011 "Reign of Doomsday" event, which I'm not very familiar with, even though Superman's collectible card shows the cover from "The Death of Superman." I certainly didn't buy this set because of the 2011 event, but that definitely seems to be where most of the inspiration for it comes from. It's a Target exclusive Gold Label set and it's still available, but is it worth buying? I actually have some problems with this set and find it to be a fairly weak release. Ready for a review tacking Superman Vs. Doomsday? Then join me after the break...





The Facts: Superman

Height: 7 1/8ths inches

Articulation: Hinged toes, double swivel hinged ankles, double hinged knees, swivel/hinge hips, balljointed waist, balljointed mid torso, swivel/hinge shoulders w/ ballsockets, bicep swivels, double hinged elbows, double swivel/ hinge wrists, and a barbell jointed head.
 
Accessories: 4 swappable hands, collector card, and display stand.
 






The Facts: Doomsday

Height: 9 1/4ths inches

Articulation: Hinged toes, swivel hinged ankles, swivel/ hinge knees, swivel/hinge hips, balljointed waist, balljointed mid torso, swivel/hinge shoulders w/ ballsockets, swivel/ hinge elbows, swivel/ hinge wrists, a barbell jointed neck, and a hinged jaw.
 
Accessories: Collectible card and display stand.

The Positives:


* The battle damaged Superman in this set definitely isn't based on the end of the fight from The Death of Superman as his outfit is mostly intact here. Any damage is minimal and handled through simple paintwork rather than being sculpted. Now, that being said, this is still a nice looking Superman. He's sporting the classic, more colorful red, blue, and yellow suit but there's a bit of piping detail on it and it has some minor paint details to show that Superman's been in a bit of a scuffle. It looks a lot like Superman from the cover of Action Comics #901. 



* The headsculpt is definitely a winner here. It's a very classic looking Superman with shorter hair (no 1990s Supermullet) with blue highlights, though he does look really pissed. Super pissed, you might say. It's unusual to see Superman depicted like this, so it's kind of shocking. Especially with the blood leaking out from the corner of his mouth. 








* Here's a closeup shot of some of the damage as well as a look at Superman's logo. Like many of the DC Multiverse logos, this is a sculpted element, not just something painted on. It looks quite nice and really adds a bit more uniqueness to the sculpt.




* The articulation is just fine here. It's solid, durable, and Supes has a nice range of movement. His shoulders, torso, well, everything really, just move nicely, and he definitely takes some great battle poses.




* Superman comes with four swappable hand. You get a pair of flat, open palms for flying or smacking Doomsday across the face and a pair of grappling hands. Fists would have been welcome, though. 











* Included are the standard collectible card and the standard disc stand. They're nice extras and I'm always glad to have them with every release, but it's so weird they chose to use the image from The Death of Superman when that's not what this figure is based on.





* Let's talk about Doomsday because, wow, is he a big guy or what? He is definitely quite massive and definitely qualifies as a Megafig due to his size. He's not just a repaint of Earth-1 Batman (The Devastator), either, though he does share most of his arms with him. Doomsday is about an inch and a 1/2 taller than the Devastator. 



* Doomsday looks awesome. Mattel did make a really cool Doomsday figure as part of the DC signature series and while he's still a larger figure and a bit more accurate to his Death of Superman appearance, this guy is definitely more impressive. Doomsday is heavy and sharp, definitely not the sort of figure you'd want some wayward child to chuck at your head. His skin is really gnarly looking with a stone-like texture and plenty of spikes. McFarlane did not skimp on the spikes at all, here. He's a sharp guy.










* Doomsday looks awesome. Gosh, he's so menacing, isn't he? I love the stone-like beard and his creepy grin. He's also sporting that huge ponytail on top of his head because he remembers his roots. He might be a prehistoric Kryptonian monster, but he's also a man of the '90s.





* Doomsday's jaw is hinged, too, allowing him to make a few different faces. Here he looks like he's yelling for you to snap into a Slim Jim!





* Here's a shot of Doomsday's back so you can see the crazy detail there, too. There are also lots of rips and tears on the top of his trunks, which I believe were part of his containment suit. 




* His hands are wicked, with that stone-like bone growing out of the knuckles.











* I have a couple of issues with Doomsday that kill a lot of the fun for me, but I'll get to those in a minute. For now, I do have to applaud the articulation. For being a burly bruiser he definitely moves nicely and has some great articulation. He really looks impressive in battle poses fighting against Clark.











* Doomsday also comes with a collectible guard and a simple disc display stand.








* Superman's damaged cape looks cool. I like how it's all tattered and ripped at the bottom.

The Negatives:



* It's too bad it's missing the yellow "S" logo on it. I mean, they use the cape as a flag on the card which prominently features the "S" logo, so it's definitely to be expected here.



* Mismatched pegs strike again! Is there really any reason the pegs on the feet and boots can't match the rest of the figure?



* For a Gold Label set of a battle damaged Superman, only giving him a few painted on scratches is weak. Weak! Seriously, I expected some more newy sculpted parts here to show the damage Clark is taking during his fight with Doomsday. 





* Let's talk about Doomsday. He's large, in charge, and heavy, but man: His hips and knees are loose! You'll have to kind of balance him just right to get him to stand.




* What's even more frustrating is how loose his mid-torso joint is. He just kind of flails around. I'm not sure what happened here as I've not experienced joints like this with any other McFarlane figure I've purchased in the last couple of years, but Doomsday looks like he's doing the shakey dance.

   Wow this set initially seemed like it was going to be really bussin', but it turned out just OK. It looks good, and if you get Doomsday posed right, he's a pretty awesome figure. It's a shame he's so wobby, though. Yeah, there are ways to fix that, but why should I have to, right? Superman is nice, too, but his battle damage feels a bit lackluster. I love that headsculpt, though. All things considered, this is a Good set, which is a pretty average review. There's plenty here to like but you're also going to get frustrated at some of the choices made, too.  I kind of wish I'd have skipped this one. 

While he's a major baddie, I haven't reviewed that many figures of Doomsday. The only ones I've reviewed on here are the Nano Metalfigs DC50 Doomsday and the DC106 Doomsday from the series 4 20-pack. 

Call him Clark Kent, Kal-El, The Man of Steel, or Superman: I've reviewed so many figures of him that he has his own review archive. Check out The Fortress of Solitude for all of my Superman reviews!

For more DC Multiverse reviews check out the following:
Harley Quinn (The Suicide Squad)
Impulse (Flash War)
The Joker (Infinite Frontier)
Kalibak (The Darkseid War)
Man-Bat (DC Rebirth)
Mister Freeze (Victor Fries)
Nekron (Blackest Night)
Nightwing (Titans)
Project Superman (Flashpoint)
Raven (Titans)
The Riddler (Arkham City)
Scarecrow (The Dark Knight Trilogy)
The Signal Duke Thomas
Superman (Black Adam) Black & White Accent Edition
Superman (Superman: Lois and Clark)
Two-Face (The Dark Knight Trilogy)
Two-Face as Batman (Batman: Reborn)

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