Sunday, October 27, 2019
Review: DC Essentials Red Hood
| Figure Information | |
| Manufacturer: | DC Collectibles |
| Figure Number: | 18 |
| Origin Series: | Batman: Under The Redhood |
| Scale: | 7-inch (approx 1/10 scale) |
| Height: | Approximately 18cm tall |
| Original Price: | 26 USD |
It's been 3 years since I last did a review so hopefully, I haven't lost it yet, but anyway, before I begin, this is probably going to be the first and last DC Essentials line I'll be reviewing mainly because, one, I only got this figure to eventually use the guns and the head for something else and, two, the essentials line's scale is way off my preferred scale which 1/12 (6-inch). I also don't like Essentials line as it was the one that replaced DC Icons, the short-lived yet personal favorite line of mine from DC Collectibles.
| Packaging: |
The packaging design isn't really anything special, it's your typical Window Type box which lets you see all of what the figure comes with and I believe the non-white color of the boxes differ from character to character and for Red Hood, it's obviously Red hahaha. Anyway, much like your typical western boxes, you get minimal product shots, a short short bio at the back with different translations and the usual "check out the other items in this line, collect them all" thing. At the top, you do get that sweet red bat logo that Red Hood bears in his suit's chest area.
There's also a bonus promo shot at the back of the blister/clamshell which is just the same as the ones you find at the back and at the left side of the box, I did take the liberty of showing it so here you go.
| Details: |
While there isn't much paint variation going on, the figure does indeed capture the essence of a more traditional Jason Todd Red Hood design very well. Let's start with the strongest point of this figure and that's definitely the mask/helm, it's ridiculously spot on in proportions and details, definitely just the way I want my Red Hood mask to be like. The piercing eyes and the metallic red really makes it a definitive traditional Todd Red Hood mask as I really didn't like the one with the visible mouthpiece which was I think the one they used for New 52.
The nose and the earpieces are really well defined and the metallic red helps make those details pop out and the lining details are clearly visible.
Going to the jacket, while again, it's paint maybe plain, they actually did put some wrinkles in the jacket detailing which helps it evoke a more realistic feel and the fact that the wrinkles are probably caused by Jason being so buff lmao; there's also some neat detailing in the bottom part of the jacket. While the main jacket is made of flexible plastic, the arms are, of course, solid hard plastic but again, the wrinkles are still there which also helps mask the arms from looking so long but I do think they are pretty long.
I think Essentials also uses just one frame for all the males so the muscular body and all are pretty much the same across the entire line, at the very least, in my opinion, Red Hood needs to be less buff as I do find that beefy chest look weird at times but for the rest of the body, they look just fine especially the muscular structure of the legs. Do note that the red bat logo can sometimes be scuffed so check yours before buying. The belt and pouches are also soft plastic so cast your worries aside if you feel they'll hinder articulation later on.
Last but not least is are his Shin plates, as simple as they are, I'm really glad they gave it a clean silver paint which looks absolutely great!
| Accessories: |
Probably bearing true to its line name, Essentials Red Hood gives you the bare essentials, so they just give Red Hood a pair of trigger finger hands and dual pistols. The pistol is painted enough to make it look like an actual pistol and they can be inserting in the holsters from his belt and, of course, be wielded by the extra pair of hands. Be very careful as the plastic near the trigger is pretty weak, as of this writing, when I was trying to reinsert one of the guns in his hand, the plastic just broke but good it's wasn't notable.
| Articulation Points: |
This is probably the selling point of Essentials as a whole as the articulation is definitely a lot better than how Icons did it, anyway, from the head, the head is on a ball joint so you can do all kinds of stuff like a full rotation, head tilts and some upward and downward movement. The neck also has a hinge which, when combined with the head ball joint, allows Red Hood a very satisfying upward and downward movement.
Going to the body section, there's your usual ab crunch (hinge) which only goes up and down but they do go to satisfying bending/stretching ranges, however, this probably one thing I think Essentials didn't do better than its predecessor line which is the Icons line as the Icons line was on a ball which not only crunches but also allows you to rotate/tilt from torso too; a minor gripe but I guess that feature is somewhat solved by the existent waist swivel which allows you a full rotation.
Going to the arms, you can't fully raise the arms sideways and is just around 75/80 degrees which is a bummer since you can particular do those side gun pointing poses but they do rotate at the shoulders on a full 360 at least. For the rest of the arm articulated, you get a bicep swivel, a double jointed elbow and a swivel + hinge for the wrists.
As for the legs, they can kick up to a full 90 but nothing backwards as the butt flap gets in the way; there's also a decent split range. For the rest of the leg articulation, you pretty much get the same good stuff you get from arms as you get a tight swivel, double jointed knees and a bonus boot cut.
Now for the last and probably the weakest part of the figure, the ankle joints, they are generally on a hinge which can swivel at the connection point, at least from the leg connection anyway. The general problem is that the hinge is ratcheted, meaning they only move on a fixed positions per click which makes it really hard to make Red Hood stand up properly.
While I can't find an ankle tilt, if you play around with the joints you can sort of make something to that effect but you do lose the ability to hinge it forwards or backwards should you do so.
| Size Comparison: |
As you can see in the initial info at the top of the review, Red Hood is pretty tall and, in fact, actually towers over every figure I collect. It also occurred to me when shooting for this that I actually have a DC character on almost every line I collect so I did the comparisons using those characters instead. First off a comparison with his brothers who are in the form of DC Icons Nightwing and DC Multiverse Red Robin.
Next up is a comparison with One:12 Deathstroke and Mafex Joker (TDK version).
Lastly here's another comparison with Figma Catwoman (Batman Ninja version) and Revoltech Batman; I would've done a Figuarts comparison but I was pretty lazy to pull out one from their Injustice releases as those are the only DC-related SHFs I have.
| Gallery: |
Having a somewhat Marvel Legends-like frame definitely helps in making this figure poseability great as Essentials Red Hood can definitely pull off a lot of dynamic poses but I do feel like some poses look awkward due to the figure's joint designs or the lack of some joints but it's great that we, at least, got guns and gun holding hands which is pretty much the only things you'll really need for Red Hood. Anyway, please enjoy the short gallery I've prepared for the figure.
| Final Thoughts: |
If you personally don't care for scales and whatnot, despite not being a perfect figure as I do have a number of gripes on it personally, then as of this writing, this is probably THE best Red Hood action figure out there at the moment. Everything just checks out, bare essentials accessories and with the articulation to help make use of those accessories and not to mention that perfect Red Hood head sculpt, it's definitely a bang for the buck despite the number of flaws I found in it. And with everything said and done, I got this yesterday from Hobby Korner, it was really good that they have extra stocks as I've been looking for this since the end of September.
| Special: |
How does this figure fare against Mattel's Multiverse Red Hood? Check it out by clicking the photo below!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment