McFarlane toys DC Multiverse might just make that 2020 yearbook in the Most Likely to Succeed category….
…if A) we ignored the fact that they should have graduated long before now, and B) may not completely hit that potential until 2021. But hey, they still might.
Now, McFarlane has actually made some big damn strides toward being a contender in their recent 6-7″ lines. Fortnite was a bit of a watershed moment, showing a massive change of course for a company that really forgot the “action” part of action figures. And while it might not be for everybody, the Mortal Kombat line has really been a standout for me, especially that Spawn figure. DC Multiverse has been a lot more mixed bag, though, and some of that is clearly watching a new team find their way through– it’s just an unfortunate twist of fate that they work for essentially the oldest collector company out there. There are some solid figures in these first couple waves, and it looks like there are more shortly on the way…
But on the way, we got a couple Wonder Woman figures. One looks pretty sharp, one less so. We’re going with the sharp one here, and to do so, I’m bringing my friend BMF once again to show off those finer points.
Luckily for me, the armored version is a place for McFarlane to show off some of the things they do best. Out of the box, you can tell a lot of love and attention was poured into getting that armor and close as could be asked, given what we’ve seen of the movie so far. The wings have excellent detailing, the chainmail and solid segments feel like layers, and even the headsculpt looks pretty good- maybe a little wide, but a lot better than the regular one.
Multiverse has been a bit hit/miss on paint as well, but this one gets a nice pass on most of that. In fact, the pearly metallic finish picks up a lot of light and shadow naturally, like gold should, and does much of the heavy lifting we might expect weathering or shading to do. And again, the head has pretty decent paint apps, with some nice rosy pigment and for the most part good eye paint.
The articulation was a bit of a surprise, actually. Though most Multiverse figures have been at least passable in this department, Wonder Woman did better than I thought her design would allow. She makes use of the same basic formula, which means double joints, ball shoulders and hips, and some fun torso joints. Being an armor design, I wasn’t sure how well those existing points would agree with that standard layout, but it did pretty good! The range of motion on the arms and legs is really unhindered, the torso is impressive, and the flexible hip and lower armor pieces allow for a good range, even at just a forward bend. And I suppose she gets a couple bonus points with those ball-jointed wings- not a ton of range or options for actually posing them, but they do allow you to balance her posing better.
So really, the only nitpicks I’ve got here would be the size and accessories. Now granted, we don’t have any other McFarlane movieverse figures to stack up against, but if we take the 7″ = 6′ as the usual, she’s a big gal. Heh. Unlike the standard, where the figure gets her scale bump completely in her thighs, this figure is more proportional overall, so there isn’t anything to throw her aesthetics. She’s just a bit more Beast Kingdom than say…Multiverse, and I think she does a better job scaling overall than her wave-mate.
Accessories are just a stand, very similar to the Superman one. Again, based on what little we know about her appearance, she may well not need any, but a lack of lasso or maybe sword or shield feels a little off to me. Still, this is a retail release, coming in around $20 US, so the value is not awful.
Overall… not bad, I’d say. Like I mentioned, intricate armor designs are where McFarlane has always shined, and there is a lot that goes right for her. While not perfect, and being a little indicative of the trouble Multiverse is having overall, as a stand alone figure, she is a solid value for the money.
If you enjoyed these most excellent shots of Wonder Woman, I recommend you check out my friend @bat_motha_fcka_photography and his work on instagram. You might recognize some backgrounds from Friend of Fwoosh Extreme Sets as well, and BMF can hook you up with a 15% off– just use “BATMFP” at checkout. You could use it, say, for the Dojo 2.0 set, used in these shots…
