McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Green Lantern John Stewart & Parallax

I picked up this DC Multiverse Green Lantern John Stewart locally a couple weekends ago, after finding the Gold Label Parallax figure at a Walmart around the corner from where I live. I've had a DC Universe Classics John Stewart in the collection at one time, as well as a DC Direct Parallax, but these new McFarlane figures are the singular representation of these characters currently.
 

Parallax (Hal Jordan) famously killed off the entire Green Lantern Corps back in 1994, making him the least popular Green Lantern, but I'm more familiar with Green Lantern: Rebirth (2004), Blackest Night (2009-2010), and the Green Lantern New 52 material. Still, this is a fantastic, dare I say majestic Hal Jordan figure, with translucent green fireballs to fit over his fists, and a matching lantern.

Below, DC Direct Green Lantern Series 1 Parallax (March 2005)...

I sold off a great deal of my Lantern Corps figure collection, both Mattel & DC Direct, a few years ago, so it's fun to buy some new Lanterns! This John Stewart was part of the Frost King Wave, which looks fun, but I'll likely never collect. John was a soldier in the material I've read, and these swords don't necessarily match his Marines experience, but he grips them tightly.

Like Parallax, John Stewart or any other Green Lantern should come with a flight stand, but these don't. I use the Storm Collectibles Dynamic Action Figure Stands, which work pretty well. They did include the standard issue flat, circular stands molded in black plastic, which is good because these DC Multiverse figures need all the help that can get- and sometimes they are not enough. A lot of these just don't stand well. 

Complaints aside, these McFarlane DC Multiverse figures do look fantastic- the sculpting detail is great, and their wrist & ankle joints have been tweaked to look better than the first generation. They have their problems but look good by and large. And while they haven't been a major part of my collecting interest, I've found myself buying more of them lately. Below, McFarlane DC Multiverse and 4" Spin Master Green Lantern John Stewart figure, the latter of which actually included a lantern accessory probably big enough for his 7" counterpart...

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Monogram Carnage PVC Coin Bank

Just in time to join the Halloween decorations, this 9" tall Carnage PVC coin bank is one of the more fantastic of its kind. While I've admired a few from afar more than once, seeing this just before Halloween sent me over the edge. Check out the video below:

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MOTU Origins Wave 8

 

I've been sitting on these Wave 8 MOTU Origins figures awhile, though I have yet to see any of them on the pegs here regionally. It's a pretty good wave, the characters past my time with the original '80s toy line. Some of the MOTU Origins characters that were released after 1984 in the original line I have passed on, but these all tie into the characters I have. Check out the video:

Sun-Man Rises was the minicomic included in this wave, a character created by Yla Eason in 1985, after her sone told her he could never be a hero because of his skin color- he was playing with a He-Man action figure. She founded Olmec Toys and set out to get a black action figure out through her multicultural Rulers of the Sun line. Sun-Man is pictured below, calling on the Eternian Goddess at Castle Grayskull, her Eternian Palace Guards on watch... 

Below, Clawful with an assortment of the Evil Warriors in my collection: Rise of Evil 2-pk Skeletor, Beastman, Trapjaw, Faker, Mer-Man, Webstor, and Tri-Klops...

I have to imagine we will see other MOTU Origins in the black/red Anti-Eternia deco, hopefully a Battlecat! In the meantime, Anti-Eternia He-Man can battle my MOTU Origins He-Man atop Panthor!

Last but not least, the new Horde Troopers have finally arrived to flank my MOTU Origins Hordak as the Evil Horde! I'm glad I snagged this Funko Primal Age Batcave while the price was reduced to use with my MOTU Origins figures- make a perfect villain's lair!

I'm still really enjoying this MOTU Origins line, one of the three or four major focuses in my collecting the last couple years. I am looking forward to some of the upcoming Snake Men figures, and there are a few that have already been released that I am looking out for. The value of some of these aftermarket is trending upward, so if there's one you want, it would probably be best to jump on it. 

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McFarlane Toys Red Robin, Jonathan Kent Superman, Classic Martian Manhunter

 I had snagged the Gold Label/Classic Martian Manhunter at a local Target, picking up Red Robin and Jonathan Kent Superman later on Amazon. I am stopped in my tracks often looking at McFarlane's action figures, and some of the DC Multiverse figures are too hard to resist. I'm not invested in Red Robin, other than his fantastic outfit and team affiliation with Batman.

Below, Red Robin/Tim Drake, Robin/Damian Wayne, and Nightwing/Dick Grayson- 3 proteges of the Dsrk Knight. A Tim Drake Robin is on the way, which I will gladly buy! Though Tim Drake was rarely the Robin in Batman material I was reading, I'm a fan of the Robin character in general, and McFarlane toys has produced many variants.

For years I've had this beautiful DC Direct Red Robin boxed- he appeared to be shorter in stature, more youthful in build than the Mc Farlane version. I still have a great love for the older DC Direct figures and have held onto dozens of them.

I was unaware that young Jonathan Kent assumed the mantle of his father, but I liked this version of Superman based on it's merits as an interesting looking, colorful action figure - I kinda wish he had a cape, but do admire the design. Love the bright colors!

To date, I still don't have what might be considered a conventional Superman by McFarlane Toys, but some of the variant and "Elseworlds" versions are so cool, like the Red Son Superman and Superboy Prime figures.

As a big fan of Martian Manhunter, this classic, Gold Label version from McFarlane Toys was a must-buy for me. I was barely aware of this character as a child, but J'onn J'onzz of Mars became an intense interest when I returned to comics as an adult. Like Superman, J'onn is the last of his race, a powerful protector of the Earthlings, often reflecting the best of their humanity.

I really liked the more modern, regular release of this figure as well, which I reviewed here in April...I bought it knowing full well a more classic version would come later. My only complaint is the lack of a flight stand. Martian Manhunter is a flyer, and a powerful one. In fact, I would say we need a flight stand with a lot of other characters due to their renown acrobatics, but I digress... 

Below, McFarlane Gold Label Classic Martian Manhunter with some other classic representations in my collection: DC Direct History of the DC Universe Martian Manhunter, 9" Hasbro Martian Manhunter, 13" DC Direct Deluxe Martian Manhunter, DC Direct New Frontiers Martian Manhunter, DC Direct JLA Classified Martian Mnhunter, and my Mattel DC Universe Classics Martian Manhunter...

Though I don't buy a lot of McFarlane DC Multiverse figures, I'm pleased with these figures, and have enjoyed the others I've picked up in the last couple years. I bought several more this past weekend in fact, and will post them here in future posts. While I remain a big fan of Hasbro Marvel Legends, these McFarlane figures feel like a better value at their often much lower price- I picked these up at just under twenty bucks each. Some of the more deluxe figures that have build-a-figures parts can run higher, but they are by and large cheaper than Hasbro. A testament to McFarlane is their ability to sell figures of characters a lot of the general public knows nothing of, my interest in this Jonathan Kent Superman being a prime example of that. I look forward to finding more of these.

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Amazing Fantasy #1000: Spider-Man's 60th Anniversary

Amazing Spider-Man and Peter Parker: Spectacular Spider-Man were among some of the first comics I read as kid in the '70s- a halcyon era for the character in my universe, with Nicholas Hammond starring in the live-action TV show, and Mego producing 8" and 12" action figures that I loved so much. Though he debuted in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962, artist/writer Steve Ditko's creation had such enduring popularity that Spidey was a childhood favorite of all of us Bronze-Age kids many years later, and remains as strong a property today. Kids and adults of all ages love Spider-Man! While I'm dubious to the "#1000" claim, this 60th celebration of Marvel's top-grossing hero was an issue I couldn't pass up. There is a lot of splashy and diverse art styles throughout the issue and it's many variant covers, mine the John Romita Jr. version. Aesthetically, things got off to a good start with Michael Cho's art in "Just Some Guy", appealing to my love for the kind of retro-styled cartooning Darwyn Cooke or Tim Sale produced.

In "Slaves of the Witch-Queen", a continuation of a story thread from Amazing Fantasy #15 brings a witch from Egypt's past through a portal by a convict lost in time, trying to return to the present...

Spider-Man is late for his 60th birthday dinner with a resigned Mary Jane, who later finds him visited by the denizens of New York, lined up to pay respects for their critically injured hero in Dan Slott's "Sinister 60". I loved artist Jim Cheung's work on this story, very inspired by John Romita Jr. ...

 Spider-Man fan Neil Gaiman's story in this issue retells his visit to the office of Steve Ditko, where the character lives as a real person in the mind of the author, seemingly underwhelmed with his fan's admiration...

616 Spider-Man traverses the Spider-Verse in author Jonathan Hickman's "You Get It", seeking validation of his trials as a Spider-Man, only to be rebuffed by his fellow Spider-Men who have accepted the burden themselves as a part of being who they are...

There are two or three other stories in this celebratory issue as well that CBR contributor Matthew McCreadie said in a recent MSN article, lacked supporting cast. Sure, Harry Osborne, Flash Thompson, and Gwen Stacy weren't really present, nor Iron Man or any of the other Avengers- some notable misses, but there were a few other characters and Easter eggs from Spider-Man's history. There is so much from the character's past that no single issue could reference more than a small percentage of it, and his contemporary stories involving the Spider-Verse and it's characters are changing Spider-Man's mythos more rapidly than ever. Regardless of what may come, I feel confident the wall crawler will be around for a long time to come, each generation telling new stories about their own Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man! Excelsior!

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Marvel Legends Spider-Man & Spinneret (60th Anniv.)

The Marvel Legends Spider-Man 60th Anniversary releases are kicking off Hasbro's plastic-free action figure box initiative, and I found this Spider-Man/Spinneret 2-pk at Target last weekend. There's some controversy about this, but my sample seemed too fresh for a scalper to have switched contents and returned the item. I was never exclusively a mint on card collector, but I will miss the ability to scrutinize an action figure's quality before purchasing. I have not read the Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows story, but I liked what the box photography claimed them to be, so I took a chance. And at the somewhat exorbitant price of $52.99, you feel a little more is at stake- I was able to shave $2.65 off that using my Target debit card, but Mervel Legends have sharply increased in price.

Complaints aside, this is surely the best classic Spider-Man we have seen in the Marvel Legends line, upgraded to pin-less joints, three sets of hands, and a Peter Parker head. To their credit, the Marvel Legends team over at Hasbro has delivered recently a lot of what fans have asked for the last many years, and subsequently the price has raised. Hasbro should have put a half-masked Peter Parker head in there like the one that came with Pizza Spidey for that price, but this is a solid figure.
 

Below, my Marvel 80th Anniversary Hulk with my Spider-Man 60th Anniversary Spider-Man. These two were childhood favorites of mine in the '70s and the subjects of some of my very first comic books I got my hands on. In terms of Marvel Legends' 20 year history, this is by far the best we've seen.

I still have the entire first wave of the 2020 Marvel Legends Spider-Man Retro Card series on card, including the Spider-Man this 60th Anniversary version is based on. The 60th Anniversary Spidey takes the win for his pin-less joints, but I do like the smaller old-school eyes included on the Retro Card Spidey.

I wasn't familiar with Mary Jane Watson as Spinneret, buying into this figure based on the merits of her design and great masked head sculpt. There are still improvements to be made on the majority of Marvel Legends female abdomens, but dome deep elbow and knee joints and ball hinge neck give her lots of range. The female Legends I've picked up recently have been phenomenal- a marked improvement over what we have seen before.

Spinneret with my Marvel Legends Spider-Gwen and Ashley Barton Spider-Woman...

We have seen this Peter-Parker head before, but the Mary Jane unmasked 

sculpt is something new- they both look good and are nice to have...

Below, Spider-Man & Spinneret with my Marvel Legends Spider-Man 60th Anniversary Iron Spider. I knew I would probably pick up some Spider-Man 60th Anniversary series figures, the Iron Spider being one I was interested in. Having these really makes me want the new Amazing Fantasy Spider-Man from this series!

I thought the retail price for this 2-pk was inflated, and I don't like not being able to see the figure through a window before buying- it will likely result in less purchases long-term, but these are some fantastic figures, both in look and articulation. They are still far lower in price than imports and have most the extra parts I care to juggle personally. Recommended!

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