Dec 8, 2021

Advent Calendar 08: Dammit Todd and your Batman obsession


 I am also to blame since I BUY THE FIGURES!! I found an animated series Harley Quinn who more or less fits with my figures. I also got a Deathstroke and Azrael loose online... I blame that I'm replaying Arkham Knight for them. I'm aware that MacFarlane has made Lex Luthor Gorilla Grodd and other DC Villains... it's just that I haven't been able to find any of them. Not even the Toys R Us inside Macy's have gotten McFarlane stuff. I was hoping for a realistic Harley, but Todd has been focusing on the dceu versions and those are crap! I was hoping for Jason to arrive so I could have the Arkham Knight himself and make an Arkham Knight themed review...

Joker: Harley!!
Harley: Oh, Puddin'!

Before I get to the review board I'll give a brief info on the characters for those of you who might not know who they are and are too lazy to Google. 

Harley: Oh, Mistah J! They said ya were dead!
Joker: Oh!! I MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!
Harley: Oh Puddin'!

Harley Quinn was a psychiatrist who fell hard for the Joker and became his sidekick. Her relationship with the Joker is toxic as hell and not a role model.

Joker: Step aside, thot! It's Batsy who I want!!
Batman: No homo, right?
Joker: ALL OF THE HOMO!!
Harley: HWAT DAA!?

Deathstroke, aka Deadpool's inspiration: Slade Wilson is a supermercenary that kicks all sorts of ass. He's better known outside comic book circles as the main antagonist of the Teen Titans. While he can be considered a general Menace in the DC Universe he has strong ties to the bat family.

Harley: I'M GOING TO KILL YA MISTAH J!!
Joker: H-Harley!?
Batman: NOW!!

Azrael was a member of the order of St. DUMAS... prounced doomah not dumass. In the case of Jean Paul Valley, he even replaced Batmam, when Wayne was incapacitated by Bane. The second Azrael, is a former GCPD officer whose suit gives him strength and speed at the cost of his sanity.

Let's start! With Harley because Ladies first...

Damian: Got her!
Harley: Watch where you're grabbin', Boy Blunder!
Nightwing: This will hurt me more than it'll hurt you!
Batman: Your timing was 0.35 seconds too slow!

Articulation
Harley has standard McFarlane articulation... or does she since Todd can be hit or miss here. I'll correct myself. Harley has near ToyBiz era female Marvel Legends articulation. Including double jointed elbows and toe hinges. Unfortunately that way she is engineered her thigh, specifically near the pelvis cannot be used properly. This limits some of the Poses she can do. 
4.5

Paint and sculpt 
She resembles her Batman Animated series counterpart. Luckily her outfit had some seam line and some creases that make her outfit look a bit more realistic. Since Damian Robin is slightly stylized, it allows me to sneak in Harley without any issue... unlike characters like Superman, Cyborg, or Batman himself, whose animated counterparts are extremely stylized.
5.0

Accessories 
Harley Quinn has her Mallet and a gun with a bang flag. Since she was released before DC's anti gun rule... seriously the new Red Hood for the Gotham Knights wave comes without guns but with an extra pair of hands making gun fingers... she also comes with a trading card and a stand bird I'm not even going to count those especially since the loose figures I bought didn't come with stand or trading card.
5.0

Overall
Harley gets a 4.83 as her final score. I'm actually quite impressed with the figure because I thought I would have Nitpicked a lot more since she's animated. 

I suppose it's Deathstroke's turn.
Slade: If it isn't Nightwing, or would you rather be called Robin?
Nightwing: I'm not in the mood Slade...
Slade: I see you're no longer with the Titans.
Nightwing: I don't need the Titans to kick your sorry ass...


Articulation
Slade is made with similar articulation to Batman, but his head feels a lot stiffer... (that's what she said.) His joints being so stiff is a double-edged sword. He can hold poses pretty good but at the same time it can be harder to set him in a pose.
4.5
Nightwing: Even a Robin can kick your ass!
Robin: Ah, Deathstroke the Terminator... Your reputation as a formidable warrior was greatly exaggerated...
Slade: What! INSOLENT BRAT!!
Nightwing: Oh Hi there Opening! *whistles*


Paint and sculpt 
I'm not entirely sure but I think he's based on the Arkham Origins version, the only Arkham game where we actually fight Deathstroke. The paint job is pretty clean on my figure as the skull looks really good. Right now I'm not sure weather I like this or the DC Direct CW version more. 
5.0
Nightwing: Gotcha!!
Robin: Deathstroke, you are Terminated!
Nightwing: STAND DOWN ROBIN!!


Accessories 
Sword... I believe Deathstroke was one of the first figures to suffer from the DC gun ban. The sword is even more floppy than Damian Wayne's.
2.5

Overall 
Slade gets a 4.0 as his final score. I feel like they could've done more with the figure... but it is what it is...

Now unto Azrael...

Articulation
Ugh... single joint elbows!? Dammit!
I hate when Todd does this crap about going single joint when most of the fingers are double jointed at the elbows. Especially when we have a sword-wielding character. Even Mattel learned that muscular Swordsmen need double joints at their elbows.
4.0
Azrael: The sword of Sin burns at the sight of an injustice...
Batman: Robin, STAND DOWN!
Robin: It would be easier if we put down these monsters.
Azrael: Agreed...
Nightwing: WE don't do that. Killing them would create a new monster that "would need to be put down"... When will that cycle stop?
Batman: What do you want Azrael?


Paint and sculpt 
Unlike Arkham figures, this Azrael doesn't have excessive amounts of armored parts with too much detail. With that said, he's a faithful representation of his comicbook counterpart, which has plenty of detail. Paintwise he is pretty decent with no real visible slop.
4.5
Azrael: The Order of St. Dumas and all of its Splinter groups,  including the Order of Purity have been perverted by greed and corruption. I want to serve Justice. Let me join your crusade, Dark Knight.
Nightwing: I'll be taking Slade to GCPD. Wanna help me, Robin?
Robin: The order of Saint Dumbass isn't to be trusted.
Azrael: Neither is the League of Assassins, yet Robin's fighting style reeks of Ra's Al Ghul's filthy...
Robin: I am going to...
Batman: STAND DOWN EVERYONE!


Accessories
Flaming sword with removable flame.
I honestly cannot come up with any ideas of what else he could have come with to give the figure a little extra boost.
4.5

Overall
Azrael gets a 4.33 as his final score. It's not a bad score, I mean, it's over 4 on a scale of 5, but the figure is a bit Underwhelming. Then again, I would've prefered a Jean Paul Valley Knightfall Batman...

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