Fresh from vacation, Dan's ToyBox is excited to bring you our take on the McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse: Reverse Flash Action Figure. Now, you all pretty much know that I'm not a huge fan of McFarlane because of the articulation issues typically associated with their products, but I'm going to admit that I really like this Reverse Flash, right up front. So, let's take a peek at the evil speedster!
Eobard Thawne discovered a time capsule in his time period of the 25th century. The capsule held a costume of the Flash (Barry Allen) and with a Tachyon device, Thawne was able to draw out and amplify the suit's speed energy, giving himself speedster abilities. Reversing the costume's colors, he adopted the identity of "Professor Zoom the Reverse-Flash" and went on a crime spree. However, unknown to Thawne, the time capsule also contained an atomic clock which would be triggered to detonate, causing nuclear devastation. To stop this, The Flash pursued and defeated Zoom, hoping he knew where the clock was. Unfortunately, he did not, but Flash later found the clock, detonated it safely, and destroyed Thawne's costume.
Outraged at the Flash for defeating him, Thawne became obsessed with "replacing" Barry and traveled back in time to exact his revenge. When Barry's wife, Iris rejected his romantic pursuits, Thawne killed her. Later, after overcoming his grief, Barry fell in love and became engaged to Fiona Webb. Thawne returned again, taunting Barry that he would kill Fiona on the day of their wedding! Barry pursued Thawne, furiously racing against time. Just as Thawne was about to commit his evil deed, Barry caught him and snapped Thawne's neck. The origin of Professor Zoom has been retconned numerous times, with an updated version having him find Barry Allen's Cosmic Treadmill in an antique shop, having plastic surgery to look like his hero and replicating the accident that created the Flash and when traveling back in time to meet his hero, learning he was destined to die by the Flash's hand. Thawne was created by writer John Bloome and artist Carmine Infantino and first appeared in The Flash #139, September 1963.
Getting into the review, let's take a look at our four traditional categories; Accessories, Appearance, Articulation, and Affordability, which we will then combine into an overall grade of zero to five toyboxes for your purchasing edification. Of course, as always, I try to be objective in order to give you the best information possible to help you decide if you want to spend the money to add a figure to your personal collections.
McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Reverse Flash comes with a set of accessories that we've pretty much seen with every speedster release. There are six translucent red lighting effects that port onto his forearms, back, legs, and the bottom of his foot. The effects that port onto his back also are hinged and can move up and down. Reverse Flash also comes with a trading card with a photo of the figure and the wonderful black DC embossed display stand that can plug into the bottom of his foot as well. McFarlane doesn't typically pack many accessories with their figures, so I'm not surprised by this, but I do admit that I like the lightning effects and the translucent red really looks nice with this figure. About the only other accessories that would have been a nice inclusion are the lightning staff he carried in the Flashpoint storyline and extra hands. I don't like that he's got one fist and one relaxed hand. It minimizes the variety for posing, but this is also something we've come to expect from McFarlane. Are the lightning effects good enough? I suppose so, at least enough to give him an A- for Accessories.
I have always said that the biggest redeeming factor in McFarlane Toys is the appearance of their figures. The Reverse Flash carries on that tradition. He's lanky and has that runner build and for such a simple costume, the amount of sculpted detail is pretty exceptional. The suit has a number of finely sculpted lines scattered throughout and the musculature while a bit out of proportion still looks tight for a runner. The evil smirk on his face and the paint applications for his mouth and teeth are rendered very nicely and there are few paint application mistakes. In fact, the only real paint issues I have are on the red lightning bolts around his forearms and belt. In some areas, the red isn't applied thick enough and you can see some yellow showing through and in areas on the belt, the red isn't fully covering to the edges, but overall, though, I am impressed. I really like the sculpting on his head and the detailing applied there. The eyes are red with a hint of black outlining them, giving him a very sinister appearance. The Flash insignia reversed and in red and black versus yellow and white is very well done and super clean. I believe it is a separate piece, but it's so tightly applied that it looks as if it could have been sculpted right on the chest. the Reverse Flash has always been one of my favorite villains and I'm really feeling like McFarlane did him justice. The costume is patterned after the Rebirth look of The Flash, so the boots have additional sculpted details, there are more lines and textures on the costume, and, I just noticed, that his open hand is a different sculpt than the open hand on the Flash, which makes for a cool difference. The only really big issue is the soft rubber "diaper" at the waist and pelvis. Unfortunately, it has a tendency to flare when posing the legs, and it retains the shape even after moving the leg from its pose. I don't want to have to heat it up every time, but at least it's a small enough problem for me to not be overly bothered by it. I think the ugliest issue though is the gap at his back from the diaphragm joint. It's much better looking at the chest and abs, but really sticks out from the back, as you can see below. Overall, though, I will happily give this figure an A for Appearance.
Can he run? Awww, yeah, he can! Starting at the top... his head will easily look left and right, can look down quite far and up to a limited degree. Unfortunately, that precludes him from leaning too far forward in runner poses, simply because he can't look up enough to see where he's going. There is a bit of tilt/wobble for attitude, but not as much as I'd like. The shoulders are on butterfly joints, which feel more for show than anything because they just don't give me the amount of range that good butterfly joints normally have. You can rotate the arm a bit better in terms of forward/back/up/down range, but still, it's limited. The actual shoulder joint itself can left higher than a T pose and turn 360 degrees. There is an upper bicep swivel, which in and of itself doesn't look bad when turned. He has double-jointed elbows that will bend in far enough for his hand to touch his face. Both wrists have nice pivot and hinging action as well. The upper torso has a crunch, that doesn't lean forward very far, will bend back somewhat and can pivot and tilt side to side. There is a ball joint for waist movement though which will turn and crunch forward/back, and sideways, allowing for a deeper ab bend for the figure. I like this a lot. His legs are limited by the diaper, but will kick forward good enough, not back at all and allows for very wide splits. There is very minimal hidden thigh swivel though. The knees are double jointed and can bend in very deeply, bringing heel to backside range. There is no boot cut but the ankles hinge and pivot very, very well. Reverse Flash also has generous toe articulation. I feel like this is one of the better McFarlane offerings for articulation and surprisingly for me, am willing to give him an A for Articulation!
As far as pricing goes, I found this figure at Mythical Mountain Cobblestone Village in St. Augustine Fl. Now, I have to say, this was one of the coolest shops I've visited and was really impressed with their stock and the friendliness and knowledge of their staff. Incidentally, this was the FIRST time I've been in an LCS and saw both Mafex and SHF on the shelves. I definitely encourage you to check them out at www.mythicalmountain.com. Anyhow, I was able to pick this guy up for about $20 and had a great chat with the person at the counter as well. The neat thing about Mythical Mountain is that they do offer online shopping and shipping. I have a feeling this won't be my last purchase from this company. As far as the pricing goes... I'm impressed that the scale and amount of work that goes into these figures still comes with a reasonable price tag. McFarlane... you get an A for Affordability!
Overall, I'm very happy with this figure. Yes, he does have some issues and some of the typical McFarlane problems, but he's a solid figure and looks terrific on my shelf with The Flash. I would say that he's easily worth:
4 out of 5 Toyboxes
There you go folks! The McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Reverse Flash Action Figure is a lot of fun to have and makes for a nice display piece! Thank you, as always, for taking some time out of your day to come spend in Dan's ToyBox. Until next time, when we take a look at the "Renew Your Vows" Spider-Man and Spinneret Two Pack... GEEK OUT!!!!