#49: DC Comics Multiverse (The Flash) - King Shark

Fun fact: King Shark is a shark! Sure, for the TV version on The Flash, King Shark may have been a metahuman, but we all know in our hearts that he is truly a shark. I was pretty stoked to see King Shark on TV, and very pleasantly surprised that Mattel decided to immortalize him in plastic. Fortunately the series his various body parts were sold with was pretty decent. King Shark is one of the more massive build a figures Mattel has done, and ends up around nine inches tall. It's a very cool looking figure, and even the jaw is articulated, which is a neat touch. Remember how the Suicide Squad Killer Croc had variant pieces? King Shark similarly has a variation, which is a different hammerhead shark style head. I definitely prefer the great white style head.

#48: DC Comics Multiverse (Legends of Tomorrow) - Hawkman

I mainly got Hawkman for the King Shark piece he comes with. For whatever reason, there weren't many of them on Ebay, so I got impatient and decided to just get the figure. This is the TV version of Hawkman, from Legends of Tomorrow. The first season was kind of dodgy, but the second season was a huge improvement and a lot of fun. Part of that improvement was that Hawkman wasn't around anymore. I'm actually surprised they made Hawkman before Hawkgirl, since she was a more important character. Maybe with Batgirl in this series already, they didn't want another female figure. Aside from the wings, Hawkman is an entirely new figure (okay, maybe the mace is re-used). These are the same wings from the earlier DCUC versions of Hawkman and Hawkgirl, so they continue to be cool. Due to TV budget issues, the Hawks spent most of the time with their wings hidden (in another dimension? shrunk to microscopic size?), so the wings are removable.

#47: Marvel Legends (Doctor Strange) - Dormammu

I figured since I already had over half of the Dormammu build a figure, I ought to complete it. What's not to like about a big evil magic dude with a flaming head, who also has two flaming skulls as accessories? That's Ghost Rider level metalness. His armor does kind of get in the way of his movement, but as a possibly non-corporeal magical being, he's probably more about the magic attacks than punching anyone out. Dormammu was previously released fully assembled as part of a SDCC exclusive box set, with a slightly different color scheme. So if you already had that one, this version would be redundant. I haven't even bothered with trying to get any SDCC exclusives for a couple years now, so this was a good way to get him.

#46: DC Comics Multiverse (Wonder Woman) - Diana of Themyscira

I was pretty psyched for the Wonder Woman movie to come out, and the toys hit shelves before the movie, so I decided to pick up this version of Diana in her Themiscyrian outfit (yeah, I'm like a couple months behind with my blog here). It's a much better likeness than the BvS figure, so it's already an improvement. For accessories there is her godkiller sword and the Lasso of Truth, which is a separate piece this time. The build a figure for this series is Ares, which I'm not going to be completing. Interestingly, the Ares is based on concept art rather than his final onscreen appearance, so there's no David Thewlis likeness to be had. I've got my Rey figure on my desk, and the whole "brunette with tied back hair wearing a tan outfit" similarity keeps catching my eye while I type this. Maybe Rey is secretly an Amazon!

#45: DC Comics Multiverse - "The Dark Knight Returns" Joker

Mattel's been putting out Dark Knight Returns figures sporadically for a while now, and they've finally arrived at the most obvious omission so far, the Joker. Since the Masters of the Universe Classics line didn't feature any characters wearing a modern (well 80s style) suit, this is all new parts as far as I can tell. It's a pretty good adaptation into three dimensions of the artwork from the original comics, without being super stylized. For accessories, there is a knife and a gun, as well as one of the best alternate heads ever. The standard head has a kind of disdainful expression, but the alternate one has the Joker laughing wildly, with a batarang embedded in his eye. The batarang is actually a separate piece, packaged separately from the head.

#44: DC Comics Multiverse - Batgirl of Burnside

Since the New 52 reboot, Batgirl was given a soft reboot, for which she got a new costume and moved to Burnside, Gotham's equivalent of Brooklyn. This has proven to be a popular change, and although this isn't the first figure of Batgirl in the new costume, we're finally getting to a point where there are options. I opted not to go for the DC Collectibles version, because it's a deluxe figure which includes her motorcycle and consequently costs around 50 bucks. Fortunately, Mattel's attempt turned out pretty nice looking. It's fairly representative of Babs Tarr's depiction in the comics. Batgirl's two accessories are a cell phone (because y'know, millennials... selfies, etc), and a batarang. The legs seem a little loose, but keep her upright, so my only real complaint about the figure is that the sculpt of her lower and upper torso don't really seem to match up well. From the front it's not noticeable, but from the sides it looks weird.

#43: DC Comics Multiverse - Jim Gordon Batman

Remember when Batman "died" but thanks to Lazarus pit-like chemicals was healed but lost his memory, and Jim Gordon took over as Batman for a while? Those were crazy times. But Scott Snyder is one of my favorite Batman writers, and it was an interesting spin. While the mech suit is probably more well known (and I think will be un upcoming build-a-figure), Gordon ran around outside of it fairly often, so it's cool to get a figure of this costume. Also, it's a rare instance of Batman using a gun and having it make sense. There's an alternate unmasked head, featuring an oddly un-stached face. Yeah, Jim Gordon shaved his trademark mustache while filling the Batman role. Now I really want a figure of a Batman with a mustache.

#42: DC Comics Multiverse The Flash - Zoom

Next up from Mattel is the main antagonist for the second season of The Flash, Zoom. Yeah, another evil speedster. They really like that concept, and hopefully the next season's main villain is a different kind of foe. The good news is that Zoom is pretty cool looking. There are a couple removable Speed Force lightning pieces for the arms, but the piece on his back is annoyingly glued on. I mean, it looks cool and all, but I'd like to have the option of removing it. I'm not sure if it can still be attached, say via a peg in the back, without the glue holding it on. Thanks, Mattel!

#41: DC Comics Multiverse The Flash - Earth-2 The Flash

One of the great things about the Flash TV series is that it's so willing to use a lot of the crazy comic book stuff. So in the second season, they started using the Multiverse, which was a way to bring in the Jay Garrick version of the Flash. So, um... SPOILERS from here on out.

This, of course, is not Jay Garrick, but rather Hunter Zolomon impersonating him to gain Barry's trust. He's basically a live action version of the comics version of Jay Garrick. He gets more accessories than the Flash himself, with a couple detachable Speed Force lightning bolts, swappable running hands, and a removable helmet. He looks kind of terrible without the helmet, and as a result of it being removable, it looks too big. So I think a non-removable version would have looked better. Otherwise, this is a pretty typical Mattel figure in terms of articulation and looks.

#40: World of Nintendo - Skull Kid

Fortunately, the World of Nintendo line has stopped with the mystery accessory gimmick, because otherwise I wouldn't have bought this figure. A Skull Kid isn't that interesting on its own, but when it's the one from Majora's Mask and includes the titular mask as an accessory, then I'm interested. The Skull Kid has two big slots on his face where the mask plugs in, so he looks kind of terrible without it on. There aren't any other accessories, but I figure that's all that's needed here. Maybe some different masks would have been cool, but it was Link who wore the rest of them in the game. Now I want them to make a Goron Link figure.