McFarlane DC Multiverse Atrocitus/Blackest Night Wave

 This Atrocitus/Blackest Night Wave of McFarlane action figures I picked up are perfect for the Halloween season upon us! Kyles Rayner is the only human of the bunch, which are all zombies and monsters. I'm unsure how to feel about this shade of green, but I have a feeling we will see at least one more version of this character. Regardless, I like this figure overall. More constructs could have been nice, but we got his unique lantern accessory, so I'm happy.

Below, McFarlane Kyle Rayner with DC Direct JLA Kyle Rayner (2003)...

Below, Kyle Rayner with John Stewart and Parallax from my last post- I've missed the large chunk of DC Direct Lanterns I sold off awhile back, so it's fun picking up some McFarlane Green Lanterns...

I regret never having picked up the Black Lantern Batman DC Direct produced for their Blackest Night series, of which I had many, but this McFarlane version makes up for it. The textures in the sculpt and color were better in person than I expected...

The McFarlane Flashpoint/Thomas Wayne Batman is a favorite among my DC Multiverse figures, but this Black Lantern Batman rivals it for my money. The Earth 44/Murder Machine Batman is another "horror" Batman in my DC Multiverse collection that's an interesting reimagining of the character.

I'm mostly sure this is the only Deathstorm I've ever owned in this scale, though I did have a DC Action League Deathstorm minifig! The included lantern accessory was appreciated.

DC Direct released a couple different Black Lantern Supermen in their Blackest Night line- I had the Series 7 Blackest Night Superman, but this one is more like the Series 1 Earth-2 Black Lantern Superman.

These Black Lanterns make a creepy pair, and makes me wonder will McFarlane produce as deep a bench of Black Lanterns as DC Direct did in 2009-2010. It's true I was more motivated by the Atrocitus BAF and Black Lantern Batman, but these are pretty cool.

Collecting all four figures in this wave gets one the parts for the large Atrocitis figure. I had a DC Direct Atrocitus that I miss, but this larger version is probably scaled better- big oversight not including a lantern accessory.

Since I now had Atrocitus, I had to buy Batrocitus, a perfectly fitting mashup! Ironically, Batrocitus does have a red lantern accessory and extra fists. I may like him a little better than the Atrocious BAF partially for this reason. but they make a great pair!

My McFarlane Hellbat also pairs well with Batrocitus. There are a few other Batman variants McFarlane has produced that I'd like to have, but I'm pretty happy with the one's I've picked up. I enjoyed this wave of McFarlane figures, but go ahead and pick up Batrocitus to supplement if you are getting this wave.

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More Later- Make It FUN!

DC Action League: Hal Jordan & Saint Walker

I Was JAZZED that Mattel decided to include Saint Walker in this fun line of toys! He's a great character! I, too am a man of great hope :)  Didn't want another Hal Jordan, but al least he has a different color scheme and a hand construct...

ComicVine.Com says: "Saint Walker wields a Blue Lantern power ring, which has many unique qualities to it.  A Blue Lantern can charge or drain other corps' power rings to the extent of either charging a ring to twice its capacity or draining all the power out of a ring.  The Blue Lantern can also negate the effects of a Red Lantern. The light constructs of Blue Lanterns are not based on the wielder's imagination, but rather based off the emotional and psychological state of the intended target. Blue power rings also have no need to recharge using a Power Battery as the power rings draw their power from the collective hope in the universe. The power ring of a Blue Lantern has only one known weakness. Without a Green Lantern power ring nearby, the user can only fly and have a protective aura and cannot access the full power of the blue power ring. " 

The card says "Saint Walker gives Hal Jordan his blue power ring to defeat Atrocitus." This explains the ppaint scheme on this figure which is otherwise identical to the Hal paired with Sinestro from the first wave in the line. This Hal includes a hand construct, comprised of soft, translucent green rubber, which slips snugly over his left fist.

I don't remember reading about Hal & Saint Walker double-teaming Atrocitus, due to the insurmountably spread out saga by Geoff Johns,  but it's documented at ComicVine.Com

I have yet to open one of the many excellent DC Direct Blackest Night action figures I have... some rainy, Kids... some rainy day  :D

Play With Your TOYS- All Will Be Well!

DC Action League: Low Vs.Tomar-Re/John Stewart Vs. Actrocitus

In keeping with current trend of all-things-Green-Lantern, due to this summer's upcoming movie and Geoff John's transformation of the comic book title in the last few years, Mattel was sure to include some in the DC Action League line. The first wave included White Lantern Sinestro Vs. Green Lantern, and this second wave included two GL two-packs...

Low Vs.Tomar-Re is a nice pairing that was well done.  Tomar-Re is a member of the Green Lantern Corps, one of the first to guide Hal Jordan as a rookie Lantern. He also had attempted to help save the unstable planet of Krypton with stellarium, a substance that would stabilize the planet's radiation. He was blinded by a star gone nova in the mining of the said stellarium, and Krypton perished, save the infant Kal-El who had been sent from the planet in a life-pod by his parents. The ring of this fallen Lantern of  space sector 2813 went to John Stewart upon his passing, fulfilling his dying wish. Stewart's ring went back to it's previous owner, Hal Jordan, who then came out of retirement- another of Tomar-Re's other dying wishes.

Low is very dangerous parasite and member of the Sinestro Corps, recently created by Geoff Johns & Ivan Reis for the Green Lantern title. He can suck all the blood from a victim's body within seconds, simultaneously laying eggs within the carcass that can produce up to a thousand offspring- pretty nasty! Along with Atrocitius, this is one of the chunkier figures in the line and I just love him! Mattel also released a 6" DCUC figure of this newer character, as they did with Tomar-Re.

The Low Vs.Tomar-Re set was matched by this equally cool John Stewart Vs. Actrocitus pairing...  I had seen this several months ago at Target, but wasn't there for that specifically so I passed on it. Luckily, all four pairs from this wave were on auction at eBay for a very reasonable price.

John Stewart first appeared in 1972, created by Denny O'Neil & Neal Adams. An architect & ex-Marine, Stewart was selected by the Guardians as Hal Jordan's backup when Guy Gardner was recovering from serious injury. He later inherits Tomar-Re's ring to become a full-fledged member of the Green Lantern Corps, and later an Honor Guard member of the Corps along with Kyle Rayner, Guy Gardner, and Sodam Yat.

Atrocitus really captured my imagination in the Blackest Night books! One of the few survivors of the Manhunter Robot's slaughter of space sector 666, this Red Lantern's rage is fueled by his hatred for the Guardians who created the flawed Manhunters and their Green Lantern Corps. Read more about this interesting character at his Green Lantern wikia page.

Now a couple comparison shots:
My DCUC John Stewart with DC Action League John Stewart...

My DC Direct Blackest Night Atrocitus (still in the clamshell) with DC Action League Atrocitus...  I never did open any of those Blackest Night DCDs! LOL! Some rainy day, Friends... on some rainy day  :)

Be a Good Kid, Go Play With Your TOYS!

Hey, Mr. Postman!

If you didn't know already, my postman is not a man, but a lean, sexy blonde- I'm not even kidding! A dorky fanboy's dream come true... (laughs) toys delivered by an attractive woman! Anywho, I got my first two DC Direct Blackest Night action figures this week! Let's take a quick look:

*DC Direct Blackest Night Series 7 Sinestro Corps Arkillo!
I'll say it: I get annoyed with Mattel trying to make me buy a whole Wave of DC Universe Classics in order to put together one of their "collect & connect" figures, most especially Arkillo, Darkseid, and Kalibak. In a lot of cases, DCUCs have better articulation, but DC Direct make some of the most artful action figures, and designed to emulate actual comic book series characters. And of course, Mattel's inconsistent and mysterious distribution methods are notoriously frustrating to collectors. I preordered this guy, along with a DCD Orange Lantern Lex Luthor (being released next week)- didn't want to miss them.

*DC Direct Blackest Night Series 1 Atrocitus!  Like Arkillo, equally gruesome and awsome!  I am a visual kinda guy, so I buy toys that appeal to my peepers- it doesn't matter if I know anything about them, part of the fun being the researching them. Behind on comics knowlege from the 90's until just a few months ago, I still haven't read Blackest Night, but of course now I will! While this may seem in backward order, I think it's fun and I have a lot of catching up to do.

*Blackest Night page at DCComics.Com!
*DC Direct Action Figure Archive!
*DC Direct Action Figure Checklist!