Action Figure Review: Batman (Fighting the Frozen) from DC Page Punchers by McFarlane Toys/ DC Direct

 

   Remember the 2011 Return of Bruce Wayne line from DC Direct? It was based on Grant Morrison's Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne and featured four figures of Batman in different time periods: Batman: Wild West, Batman: Witch Hunter, Batman: High Seas, and Batman: Prehistoric. They were very cool figures but, like many DC Direct figures of that era, they were essentially mini statues with minimal articulation. It was a wildly cool concept, though, and I'm hopeful that McFarlane Toys and DC Direct continue to draw inspiration from it in their DC Page Punchers collaboration. Today I'm looking a new take on the Prehistoric Batman, the second of four figures from the newest DC Page Punchers series. This series comes with a new comic book called Batman: Fighting the Frozen which tells the story of a time travelling, steampunk inspired Mr. Freeze causing trouble for Batman of the Bat-Clan and his allies 16,000 years in the past. Can Batman discover fire in time to help him defeat Mr. Freeze? Does this version of Batman live in a literal bat cave? Will the sticks and stones he uses as weapons break the bad guys' bones? Find out after the break...

Action Figure Review: Superman (Superman: Lois and Clark) from DC Multiverse by McFarlane Toys

 

   Superman two days in a row? This wasn't planned! It just happened. Last Monday I was at Walmart grabbing some fireworks and snacks for our 4th of July festivities and during my obligatory trip to the action figure aisle I saw the DC Multiverse section restocked with some figures from last year. There wasn't much I didn't already have but I did notice this cool black and silver "Solar Suit" from the comic Superman: Lois and Clark. I've always liked the black and silver suit and wanted it just for the coolness factor, especially when I noticed he was priced at $6 bucks. That was the clencher right there. Want a super cool black and silver Superman? This is actually the classic, Post Crisis, Pre Flashpoint version of Clark Kent introduced back into canon in 2015's Superman: Lois and Clark and he's sporting this cool suit to be a bit more low profile here. Let's take a look at Superman after the break...

Action Figure Review: Project Superman (Flashpoint) from DC Multiverse by McFarlane Toys

 

   The Target excusive Flashpoint build-a-figure series continues with Project Superman, an alternate take on Kal-El where he was captured as a kid and kept in a secret military complex overseen by General Sam Lane, Lois' dad. Hidden away and experimented on, Superman (known as Subject One) doesn't have access to the rays of Earth's yellow sun, so he's really scrawny and pale. The recent movie The Flash used some of the elements of this storyline, but they used Kara Zor-El/ Supergirl instead of Kal-El. I'll admit that I bought this figure pretty much just to get the pieces for the build a figure of Cyborg as he's not overly exciting on his own. Ready to take a look at Project Superman? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Batgirl (Batman: Fighting the Frozen) from DC Page Punchers by McFarlane Toys/ DC Direct

 

   The newest series of DC Page Punchers has been shipping for around a month now and this is my favorite set yet. It's the only set of Page Punchers where I've purchased all of the figures in the set, too, but being that it's a Batman based set, that's probably not much of a surprise. Today I'm checking out my first figure in the series: Batgirl! Y'all know I absolutely love Batgirl, so a prehistoric/ cavegirl themed Batgirl is a real treat. Wait; prehistoric, cavegirl Batgirl? Yup! This series comes with a new comic book called Batman: Fighting the Frozen where a steampunk inspired Mr. Freeze accidentally travels 16,000 years back in time, causing trouble for Batman of the Bat-Clan and his allies. Batgirl is a member of the Bat-Clan and is armed with plenty of prehistoric weapons for dealing with Freeze. Ready to take a look at a really cool set? Then join me after the break...

Action Figure Review: Indiana Jones (Club Obi Wan) from Indiana Jones: Adventure Series by Hasbro

 

   It kind of drives me crazy that we're getting so many figures in the 6-inch Adventure Series that we didn't get in the 2008 line while there are so many major characters in the 2008 line who don't seem to be in the works for the Adventure Series. The subject of today's review, Indiana Jones in his snazzy white tuxedo from the Club Obi Wan, didn't make it into the 2008 line. Neither did Wu Han, Lao Che, nor Willie Scott in her red and gold performance dress. Think those will show up in this line? I'm not getting my hopes up! This line seems largely like it's meant to help promote Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (which I enjoyed, but I'd put it in last place out of the Indy moves) but, with the movie underperforming, I can't imagine Hasbro really extending this line much beyond whatever they might be contractually obligated to produce by Disney and Lucasfilm. This is a great, unique look for Indy, though, and I imagine it'll be the base for many James Bond customs. This is a Target exclusive and has been out for at least a month. Let's check out Indiana Jones (Club Obi Wan) after the break...

Action Figure Review: Clawful from Masterverse/ Masters of the Universe New Eternia by Mattel

 

   
  Who's ready for some Masterverse? Today I'm very excited to check out another figure from Mattel's excellent Masterverse subset Masters of the Universe: New Eternia: Clawful! Not only have the New Eternia figures just been solid toys with a nice mix of new elements but they've also typically offered up very classic versions of the MOTU cast as well. The same goes for Clawful here; want a mostly classic Clawful? You've got it. Want an updated Clawful with elements from the Filmation Clawful and the 200x/ Staction Clawfu? You've got that, too. When I went to order my Mattel Creations exclusive Vykron I found that Mattel actually had some standard figures in stock, too, so I managed to grab the new Origins deluxe figures and this guy. They shipped before Vykron, but have no fear! I'm reviewing him soon, too! Let's take a look at Clawful after the break...

Action Figure Review: Indiana Jones (Temple Escape) from Indiana Jones: Adventure Series by Hasbro

 

   I'm not sure how many times I've said that Raiders of the Lost Ark is tied with Ghostbusters as my favorite film of all time, but it always bears repeating. I'm not sure any movie has as amazing of an opening sequence as Indiana Jones, either. The intro to Raiders of the Lost Ark might be the finest 10 minutes ever put to film. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny came out this weekend but I'm not going to spoil anything about it yet. I'm kind of still processing it. Maybe in a day or two I'll be ready to give a more insightful opinion. For now, I'm focusing on the figure at hand: Indiana Jones (Temple Escape) from Hasbro's Indiana Jones: Adventure Series. I believe this is a Fan Channel exclusive and while it's currently only available for preorder from Hasbro Pulse it actually has been shipping from shopDisney for around a month. I managed to get mine in early June using my Disney+ membership. This is definitely the most iconic version of Indiana Jones from one of the most iconic movie scenes in history but there is a bit of an issue with this figure: It's exactly the same figure as the standard Indiana Jones (Raiders of the Lost Ark) from the Ark of the Covenant build an artifact series, but with the idol pedestal and the bag of sand included. Oh, and fewer hands. Yeah, unless you want to have two identical figures, you have to decide whether or not you want to build the Ark of the Covenant or if you want this display piece. That was kind of a silly move on Hasbro's part, wasn't it? Surely they could have found some way to differentiate these figures more. Since I'm not going all in on this line and am mostly just cherry picking here and there, I opted for this set as this scene is just way too cool. How this set turn out? Is it a treasure or a trap? Let's find out after the break...