It’s been over ten years since DC decided it was a good idea to kill off Ted Kord, and it still hurts my heart to this day. Ted Kord was definitely the Blue Beetle I grew up with and remember most fondly. I loved his awesome but short-lived comic series, and his time spent with the Justice League is one of my all-time favorite eras of that team. He was brilliant, heroic, witty, and really funny. He truly was, and, really, he still is one of my all-time favorite comic book characters. I miss him like a deceased family member.
So in closing, f&#k you, Max Lord, for putting a bullet in his head.
Now, right after Ted’s death, DC created a new Blue Beetle. They wanted to go younger and more hip, and you can’t fault them for that. They were trying to bring in a new audience and new, hipper characters tend to do that. Or so I’m told. Although I’m sure they could have had two Blue Beetles running around and it would have been just fine like it is with the multiple Green Lanterns, Flashes, or Robins, but I digress. Nope, not bitter at all. This new, hipper, and younger Blue Beetle is Jaime Reyes, a young teen from Texas who finds a mystical scarab that bonds to him. While the first two Blue Beetles had no powers, this alien scarab attached itself to Jaime giving him an extraterrestrial suit of armor full of weapons, gadgets, and the ability to fly. Where was that damn scarab when Ted was around? Okay. Maybe I’m a little bitter still.
I have to admit, though, that as much as I miss Ted, the design and look of the new Beetle is cool as hell. Jaime has proved to be a fun and interesting character who has been a Teen Titan and a major player in the DCU since his inception. Cool-looking designs tend to make cool-looking action figures, and that’s what we’re here for. So let’s get to it.
Packaging, once again, is standard for the Icons line. Clear blister bubble to display the figure with pictures of the other members of the wave on back. The side displays his number in the line and what storyline this look of Jaime hails from. This look is his “Infinite Crisis” look, which was also his intro story. His outfit hasn’t changed much, if at all, since this is your basic standard Jaime Blue Beetle.
Like I said before, even as much as I loved Ted Kord as Blue Beetle, I have to admit how cool of a look I think this Beetle has. I dig armored designs and this one is a well-designed, crafted, and streamlined suit. The figure itself captures all of the armor’s designs and details well enough. From the sculpted indented lines in the armor to the layered levels in certain areas of the armor, Jaime makes for a pretty damn striking figure.
He comes with two accessories (not counting his wings): two attachable armaments that are creations of the scarab suit. It’s basically a gun or cannon for each hand that can be swapped in and out. Most of the other Icon figures come with multiple hands, but I guess it makes sense because in Jaime’s case the weapons created by the suit would be his go-to move. Open hands or an “energy blast” hand don’t really go with him all that much.
Jaime is noticeably smaller than the other Icon figures, and that makes sense because he’s a teenager compared to the usual full-grown superhero build. He’s much slimmer and that allows him a bit more movement in the articulation department. The scarab that gives him his powers is a softer plastic sculpt, so its legs don’t hinder movement at all. He’s definitely a fun figure to pose, and when you combine that with the detailed armor sculpt, you got yourself a pretty good toy. He has the standard Icons level of articulation, which includes: ball-jointed neck, hinge-and-swivel shoulders, double-jointed elbows and knees, ball-jointed torso, swivel forearms, hinge-and-swivel wrists, waist/ab crunch, ball-jointed hips, and hinge-and-swivel feet.
His attachments pop on and off super easy, and while they are solid and a bit heavy, they aren’t heavy to the point where they weigh his arms down. His wings are attached to a peg on his back and can be removed with no problem. The wings themselves are sculpted well with robotic lines and tech details in them. They are also poseable to allow for some cool flying poses. His shoulder armor is also soft plastic, so it bends in a bit to allow his arms to go straight out.
His head sculpt is one of my favorite parts of the figure because of the raised lines and a nicely detailed eye area. His paints are crisp and clean with some slight metallic sheen to his blue. His darker color is a more of a gunmetal gray than a black, and it doesn’t show up as well as I’d like in these pictures. It also has a slight metallic sheen to it. I wish the Lex Luthor figure would have gotten this same metallic paint treatment to make him pop a bit more.
This figure is another winner from the Icons line for me. So far the only figure that really disappointed me was Batman. I just feel like his head sculpt isn’t my favorite and he ended up too short within the line itself. Being that it’s Batman, though, I can see us getting another more improved version sooner than later. So that gives me hope that I’ll get a Batman as good as the other figures in this line. Overall though, this line is killing it in my opinion. I really hope DC Collectibles has big plans for it, and I really hope to see a lot from them come Toy Fair in a couple of weeks.
If you like what you see of Blue Beetle and want to scoop him up, you can grab him at you local comic shop.
Or pick him up online from Big Bad Toy Store or Amazon.
Thanks for giving my review a look and I’ll see you on the boards.
