Black Adam - CYCLONE!

DC Multiverse - Black Adam (Movie) - Cyclone - McFarlane Toys 2022

The majority of female DC characters released by McFarlane Toys are truly great and I have no complaints. However, I honestly can't say the same for their movie-based releases. So far there have been several cinematic figures for Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman, and unfortunately none of them are especially good likenesses. This Cyclone is played by an actor who is largely unfamiliar to me (Quintessa Swindell), but even from the brief glimpses I've seen, this figure does not do them justice. The facial expression is very glum and appears significantly older than the youthful 25 they are. Additionally, the other toys and images I've seen incorporate a ton of bright purple in the costume design. In this figure most of those bright colors have been swapped out for black. I'm leaning heavily towards the likelihood that this figure was created from earlier concepts. It's not a bad figure overall, but it just pales in comparison to the quality of recent comic releases. Let's check out Cyclone below!

Black Adam 3.75" - CYCLONE!

Black Adam (Movie) - 3.75" Action Figure Series - Cyclone - Spin Master 2022

I'm pretty excited to see Black Adam in theatres next week. I don't know much about the title character at all, but seeing Hawkman, Doctor Fate, and Atom Smasher on the big screen will be amazing. The big mystery character for me, however, is Cyclone. I honestly only knew this character from her Kingdom Come DC Direct action figure and her self-explanatory powerset, but until a few weeks ago I had never read a story with her. That first comic I picked up was a movie tie-in titled Black Adam: Justice Society Files - Cyclone #1 and featured an introduction to the DCEU version of the character, which from everything I've read is pretty different from her comic version. For starters, the DCEU version seems to have nanobot-driven powers as a result of a lab accident, whereas the comic version seemingly inherited genetic powers from her grandmother, Ma Hunkle. Who knows how this new character will be portrayed. By next week we should have a lot of answers. Let's check out Cyclone below!

Batman Family Multipack - BATGIRL!

DC Multiverse Multipack - Bat Family 5-Pack (Amazon Exc) - McFarlane 2022

Batgirl is my favorite comic character to see in action figure form. She has a few classic trademarks: red hair, a big bat emblem, and the ears and cape of her namesake. (She also tends to incorporate yellow into every design). Yet with this formulaic set of design traits, the toys still manage to look surprisingly distinct from each other. McFarlane Toys has produced three Batgirl figures so far, and my favorite by far has been the Three Jokers version from 2021. Surprisingly this repaint of that figure (in her classic Bronze Age color palette) is the first of the three molds to see a re-release (aside from those unpainted gray figures they make). Other figures have been released many times with paint variations or a retooled head, but the one character I would be actually excited about has managed to escape this treatment before now. But this one was worth the wait. I know McFarlane will always lean towards modern gritty storylines, but I will always find classic looks more appealing. Let's check out Batgirl below!

Marvel Legends - IRONHEART!

Marvel Legends - Black Panther: Wakanda Forever - Ironheart - Hasbro 2022

Riri Williams has had a lot of interesting armor configurations since her debut in 2016. Her first was a bulky suit made from pieces of Iron Man's armor that she scavenged and reverse engineered. When Pepper Potts insisted that her genius (and heroics) be acknowledged, she quickly acquired the resources to upgrade to a sleek classic-looking "Iron Man" suit (this was my favorite iteration so far). After a few years she got a redesign into a pink/magenta suit with a subtle heart motif and a clear visor. This wasn't my favorite look, but it was very original (not derivative of Tony's look) and the stories were still great. When her solo series ended, I lost track of her development. But now her upcoming appearance in Wakanda Forever has me energized to fill in the gaps. This cinematic design looks like a great blend of the two main comic looks. I love that she's starting off with a unique design, easily distinguishable from Tony and Pepper. Let's check out Ironheart below!

Titan Hero Series - IRONHEART (BOTH VERSIONS)!

Marvel Titan Hero Series - Wakanda Forever - Ironheart (x2) - Hasbro 2022

I have known that there was an Ironheart television series coming out on Disney+ for a couple years now. This character is one of my favorite things to come out of modern Marvel comics so I was pretty excited for this show. But I was completely unaware that she was making her live-action debut in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever until I saw a blurry leaked photo of this Marvel Titan Heroes Series figure in Wakanda packaging. But this actually makes sense since Shuri was a major character in the second story arc of the Ironheart comic (fingers crossed Silhouette makes a cameo!) But another surprise came when two versions of this figure were released simultaneously. There are some significant differences, but my favorite version is actually a combination of the two so I thought it best to post a joint review to explain my reasonings. I also understand that Riri has at least two additional costumes in this movie so I have a feeling we haven't seen the last of her in the toy aisles. Let's check out Ironheart below!

G.I.Joe Basic Series - BARONESS!

G.I.Joe Limited Articulation Basic Series - Baroness - Hasbro 2022

To me G.I.Joe product has always been firmly anchored in Hasbro's 3.75" action figure line that began in the early eighties and continues to this day (with just a few gaps along the way). But in the past few years there have been a handful of new product lines that can not be overlooked: The 6" Classified line is one of the most popular collector lines out there; the Super7 Ultimates look amazing and I can't wait to get the first wave in hand; the ReAction figures are giving us great animation-accurate sculpts in a retro toy style; and finally this Limited Articulation line (at stores like CVS and FiveBelow) is giving us the discount evergreen solution that all the other big licenses seem to get, but G.I.Joe has always missed out on. These figures aren't for everyone. They only have three points of articulation: shoulders and neck. And they have weapons permanently sculpted into their hands. But the designs are fun, they are very inexpensive, and they display well. I can't wait to get more. Let's check out Baroness below!

Marvel Legends - QUAKE!

Marvel Legends - Controller Build-a-Figure Wave - Quake - Mattel 2022

A few years ago I started watching Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and became obsessed right away. I was behind the times and had many seasons to catch up one. I ranted recently about how I typically find military organizations in superhero books to be boring (I much prefer individual superpowered villains). But this show exposed me to the storytelling potential of these groups. Of course, I still managed to find the most superhero-like member and focus all my adoration on her. Daisy Johnson aka Quake was the standout character. She has the power to control vibrations and has to wear special gauntlets to avoid damaging the bones and capillaries her arms. I wrongly thought she was a new character for the show, but she had been appearing in comics for nine years when Chloe Bennet took on the role and launched her into A list (maybe B list) territory. A great thing about this figure is generic body which can become almost any female S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with a simple head swap. Let's check her out below!

Marvel Legends - MS. MARVEL!

Marvel Legends Disney+ Series 2 (Infinity Ultron) - Ms. Marvel - Hasbro 2022

I just finished watching the Ms. Marvel series a couple weeks ago. It was a lot of a fun and a really unique take on the character. I didn't read all of the Kamala Khan Ms. Marvel comics (although I feel I read around 30% of them), and to me the fangirl angle in the show seemed like a new twist, but a fun way to introduce a new character figuring out her fledgling powers - especially since her fandom is steeped in the MCU world (which I can only assume most of the viewing audience is a fan of as well). This figure looks pretty great. And although the face bears a great resemblance to actor Iman Vellani, the body proportions conform to a more generic Hasbro buck. In the show, Kamala is a short young woman with realistic curves. This figure looks noticeably elongated in comparison. But most MCU figures seem to have a similar generic body representation, it just happens to be more noticeable with this one. Overall it's a great figure and a great addition to my MCU shelf. Let's check out Ms. Marvel below!