McFarlane DC Multiverse IN-HAND Mega Gallery - Part 1 - The Toyark

We aren’t even 2 weeks into 2020 and the first major story for collectors has hit – McFarlane Toys DC Comics license is live. They wasted no time, dropping on Jan 1 and showing up for purchase soon after. Wave 1 of what is being called DC Multiverse (Mattel’s was technically DC Comics Multiverse) consists of 12 figures and 1 vehicle. Included are:

Batman: Detective Comics #1000
Batman: Detective Comics #1000 Variant Chase
Superman: Action Comics #1000
Batgirl: Art of the Crime
Nightwing: Better Than Batman
The Batman Who Laughs
Batman: Batman the Animated Series
Superman: Superman the Animated Series
Green Lantern: Justice League
Harley Quinn: Classic
Green Arrow: Arrow
Superman: Unchained Armor
Batman: Hellbat Suit
Bat-Raptor (7 Inch Scale Vehicle)

We have everything in hand and have begun our galleries and reviews. We are splitting this into two parts. Today we will be covering Batman #1000, Superman #1000, Batgirl, Nightwing, Batman Who Laughs, Unchained Superman and Hellbat Batman.

We’ve done base shots on pure white to show clearly what’s going on with each figure, articulation range, key features. We’ve also run them for comparisons with each other and other brand’s figures of different scale. And of course, we capped it off with some super fancy pants shots because that’s the fun stuff!

Read on to check out over 125 shots of the first half of DC Multiverse wave 1, courtesy of McFarlane Toys!

McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse 7 Inch Scale Action Figures Wave 1

First off, want to give some general feedback. Overall, I dig them. There are a lot of feels going on right now in the fandom due to the change in size, choice of launch figures, and so on. I am not knocking that, there are valid points there. For me personally, these points are less of an issue. I never fully committed to Mattel’s Multiverse. At the end, it was getting better but I don’t have years of figures to worry about blending. DCU before it, also wasn’t deep into it. Most of my DC figures were from DC Collectibles and Asian imports, which were at the 6.75 inch scale or small 6 scale. This is technically bigger than DCC, but they can blend together fairly well. As for launch characters, I don’t know if it’s me being old and seeing this over and over, but every company tends to launch hard with the core characters taking up heavy space. If they sell, they eventually work in deeper roster stuff. So, I am not worrying about that part right now. Wave 1 while technically Batman heavy has a wide range of styles and eras represented so different fans can get pulled it all at once.

My next concern before I had them in hand was build quality and execution. And, both of those things were handled well here. The best way I can explain this is a mix between a Marvel Legends and a NECA figure. You get the articulation, movement style, being able to get them into position without worry of breakage etc that a Marvel Legends offers, but they have paint and detailing you’d get with a NECA figure. Nothing broke, snapped, warped, or chipped during my session here, which is good. I actually was expecting worse. So kudos there. Paint seemed to be applied clean and detailed across the board on all figures. Nothing is ever perfect perfect, but there was nothing here that made me want to return something to get another one.

Articulation is wide ranging, per figure. There is no standard body style they just remix for the different figs. Each one has it’s own mold, articulation points, articulation engineering styles. Some give you more than others. Most have double jointed knees and elbows, swivel cuts etc. Batman Who Laughs – no ab cut. Superman – no double elbows. Armored guys – cuts are there but bulky so range is limited. With the exception of Superman, none of these choices detract from enjoyment of the figure for me.

There are a couple odd issues that defy logic though – Batman 1000 and Superman 1000 – Both have very large gaps in their ab cuts. If this was just going to be a line-wide style, it wouldn’t be desired but you could chalk it up to being a necessity of articulation. However, Nightwing and Batgirl have similar tech and cuts, but they are generally flush. So, hopefully they shoot to be more like those two going forward. In hand, Batman and Superman bother me less than in pics, and it can be made more flush with effort, but it’s there and shouldn’t be.

Batman 1000 – his head is small compared to body, and compared to other figures in the line. Again, in person by himself less of an issue, but it’s stark in pics or with others near him. It would be cool to get an upgraded head as an extra piece in a future batman figure to fix this without returns :). The style of the head is trying to match art from Batman 1000, which I did not dig originally personally, so that’s a second issue on top of the size. But that’s to each’s tastes, I get that.

Superman 1000 – lack of double jointed elbows stinks. Reduces ability to do the pose from the Superman 1000 cover. Also, no double fists, also needed for that pose. I personally prefer a set of closed fists and then do whatever you need/want for extras. But don’t mess with my close fists set. He is also missing his Yellow S on the cape, assuming it’s supposed to be the 1000 issue look. In terms of sculpt either his chest is too big, or, his shoulders / arms are too small. There is butterfly articulation there and the shoulders can droop a bit without focus, but even when you work it to best possible scenario, the shoulders are a tad small. Superman needs to have a pronounced upper body, this slightly missed the mark on that.

Now, that sounds like I’m giving hell, and I’m really not. Even with those issues, I enjoyed the figures. They move well, the color tones and paint feel are great. At a distance on the shelf, they work. But fine tuned inspection or static pics – these are issues for further refinement IMO.

From here it’s about stylistic choice. I don’t personally dig Nightwing’s face, but it’s a sculptors choice, and executed well. I DO dig Batgirl’s face, even though it’s very stylized and others don’t like that. I super dig Hellbat and Unchained Superman, even though they are relatively modern and obscure to the point that some may not be familiar with them. Batman Who Laughs – dig everything about it. The lack of ab cut not an issue for me. Great sculpting on that torso with the Hellraiser style jacket.

Now, let’s talk about that Build a Figure, um, Vehicle. The piece is cool, again well done and executed. But, I personally don’t want it. It’s an out of scale thing that will just go into a tub or get lost on a shelf. And, this increases the price of the figures by 5 each, so when said and done that’s a weird small scale Batmobile for 15 bucks. I would much rather pay for extra weapons or diorama pieces for that higher price point, if we aren’t getting a full figure build out. Which I am ok with. Keep it at 19.99, or change what is going in here to be more useful to the FIGURES, and their displays. That’s my 2 cents.

Bottom line – I have been itching for DC figures for a while. I was big into DC Collectibles from a bit before New 52 forward, Arkham Games, Designer Series. Then Icons, and Essentials happened, kinda broke the flow. Mattel gained steam and I was digging at the end of their run, but I knew this was coming so waited another year basically. SHF and Mafex is cool, but expensive and hard to build a deep roster at 50-100 a figure. Now that McFarlane has dropped, I’ve breathed a sigh of relief. Are they perfect – no. But they are damn good, and from what we’ve seen, from both McFarlane and from other companies, this could have gone way worse. I assume they will review their work, read feedback, and work in refinements over time. A year from now things should be rocking. That being said, right now, I am still very happy with what’s here. I have some awesome DC figures in hand that I can mess with, knowing more are coming, and I can afford them.

Read on to check out over 115 HD images showing them off, you should be able to pick these up locally or online this month!

We will be doing the same for the other figures in wave 1, early next week. Stay tuned!

Thanks to McFarlane Toys for sending these through to review. We were going to buy them all anyway, just got the email at the right time! :)