Sunday, November 3, 2019
Review: DC Multiverse Red Hood
| Figure Information | |
| Manufacturer: | Mattel |
| Origin Series: | Batman: Under The Redhood |
| Scale: | 6-inch (approx 1/12 scale) |
| Height: | Approximately 16.5cm tall |
| Original Price: | Approximately 21 USD |
| Packaging: |
Since this is one of the last few Multiverse figures ever to get released, it follows the newer Multiverse packaging style that sports the blue box which isn't really that interesting as you just get to see the same artwork in like 3 sides of the box + a very hilarious sounding short text about Red Hood along with the "collect and connect" (basically Build A Figure) breakdown at the back. You do get a full window to see the contents of the figure clearly so that's a plus.
| Details: |
First thing I would like to focus on the details is the Red Hood mask; so, before this writing, I've already watched several reviews of this guy since he's been out for like 2 or 3 months already and while it does look weird at reviews, seeing it first hand was definitely something hard to describe in words. The Red Hood Mask looks REALLY bad in person, if you think it looks bad in photos and whatnot, it's way worse if you see it in person as it is ridiculously huge, kinda gives that feeling of playing the Arkham Games with the big head mode. Remember when I raved about this announcement before? That mask definitely looked way better back in the prototype they teased but what the heck happened? He looks like he has no neck and the overall shape and size of the head is really just awful in proportion to the rest of the body.
In addition to that, the plastic and color they picked is just too glossy and too bright that my camera actually had a really hard time capturing the mask in photo properly and it also makes it hard to appreciate the lining in the helm as they aren't really that noticeable thanks to the color choice they went with.
Now going to the rest of the details, let's head down to the logo on his chest first, now, some people might wonder why they decided to split this apart with some sort of zipper marker, this was because they based it off the suit design from the first volumes of Red Hood and the Outlaws under the Rebirth series so I'm totally fine with it.
As far as the suit details go, they did it pretty well except for that zipper line across the crotch area since it's not supposed to look like that but eh, it's not pretty bad I guess. Also the belt might look displaced in the photos but those are adjustable so don't worry about it. The body is also using that of the newer teen mold they use so it works perfectly for Jason for me as it's not as beefy looking which was my complaint with the Essentials one.
So let's head to jacket this time shall we? for the most part I like its paint/color choice it looks dark, it looks dirty and the fact that the hard plastic parts match that of the soft plastic is a huge plus for me; I guess my only gripe about the jacket is how weird it looks like layed down but if you look at underneath, you'll see that the body proportions are just ok.
With the jacket out of the way, it's time to head to perhaps this figure's BIGGEST SIN, while his belt does have the holsters and the gun on the sides, THOSE GUNS ARE MOLDED INTO THE HOLSTERS meaning there's no way to remove them at all, so that basically means, Multiverse Red Hood DOESN'T HAVE GUNS AS ACCESSORIES. So let's head back to that prototype tease again, remember how they showed that Red Hood had removable guns? Well, Mattel fucked up real hard I suppose.
Going to the last part, it's the usual shin plates and the boots which I have no complaint on as they look clean and the paint schemes are pretty good too.
| Accessories: |
Possibly the saving grace of this figure are the accessories so let's begin with what I think is the best part of his accessories, the Jason Todd head.
Compared to that god awful mask, the Jason Todd head looks well proportioned and does actually fit pretty nicely to the overall aesthetics of the figure. While there isn't any major features, it does look great under decent lighting and the hair mold isn't that bad too though it's also not anything great.
Ok so his default pair of hands are actually his gripping hands instead of the fists for some reason, so while he technically has zero weapons, these hands can basically grip several accessories from the same scale which can range from a combat knife to batarangs or, alternatively, you can use it to hold his crappy mask.
The next pair of hands are fists so you can easily use them for fistfights and whatnot.
And finally, the last set of hands are actually trigger finger hands which was intended for supposedly his guns which are now non-existent, so for this particular review, I'm using the Essentials guns which ridiculously fit this figure's trigger finger hands perfectly even though the Essentials is basically a larger scale line.
Last but not least is technically not an accessory but the Collect and Connect part which is the right leg of Killer Croc and boy, it's huge so I can't help but wonder how huge Croc really is when completed as I've no plans on completing it.
| Articulation Points: |
Generally, the frame has pretty basic articulation in some parts while also having really good ones in other parts so it's a mixed bag overall. Let's start with the head and for this one, I'll be using the Jason Todd head as the mask really doesn't let you use anything of the neck articulation at all. So the neck is actually on a weird hinge with the head is connected via a ball joint so this allows your basic upward, downward movement and a full head rotation; sideways tilt is almost non-existent so I didn't include it in the photos.
For shoulder articulation, you have a full rotation while raising the arms sideways is pretty limited, just around 45 degrees.
However, if you fiddle with the shoulder pad's position, you can actually raise the arms to a full 90 degrees sideways which is weird if you ask me but I'd still take it anytime.
For the rest of the arms, you get a full rotation on the biceps while you get a 90 degree bend on the elbows as they are sadly single jointed. Going to the wrists, they full rotate from the connection and does hinge sideways like your old figma hands.
Going to the torso, Red Hood does have a decent ab crunch going forwards and backwards though be very weary about using it a lot as it may loosen this fast; there's also a full rotation at the waist though this can sometimes cause the belt to get displaced so do take note of that.
And finally going to the lower portion, the frame features a very very satisfying full split and a perfect 90 degree kick though nothing backwards thanks to the butt flap. For the rest of the legs, you get a full rotation on the thighs and decently bend from the double jointed knees; last, but definitely not the least, the ankles have a fully working hinge and does have ankle pivot which really helps in standing this figure up, something the Essentials had a hard time doing.
| Size Comparison: |
So the only reason I did get Multiverse despite how bad it is is basically the scale which is right up my collection and while Multiverse is indeed still on the larger side of 1/12 scale, it's definitely easier to work it up with other lines for photos and that's another selling point of this figure for me, anyway, let's start up by comparing him with the 6.5 inch Essentials version which was also released just recently.
Next up is a comparison with his wavemate, Red Robin and another one with DC Icons Nightwing.
Next up, let's compare him with Japanese lines and in the next few photos, he'll be compared with MAFEX Ra's Al Ghul, Figma Catwoman, Amazing Yamaguchi Batman and S.H.Figuarts Injustice Joker.
| Gallery: |
While this figure's articulation frame is pretty mixed, they're pretty much enough to pull off your basic poses but, of course, I wish there were more as more dynamic poses with the guns look so awkward due to the lack of the articulation points. The enjoyment factor also depends if you can spare him accessories to wield (most importantly guns) and with that said, please enjoy the gallery!
| Final Thoughts: |
By all means, this is definitely a pretty bad figure in general especially with the major sin of molding those guns inside the holsters from the belt BUT should you have guns and other accessories, it still is a pretty enjoyable piece to pose around but definitely avoid using that masked head, just use the Jason head, I still can't believe how bad they messed up this Red Hood especially considering that in the same wave, a decent Red Robin was released alongside this one so it's definitely questionable, DC Multiverse was never a line I put in high regard and this is definitely one of the reasons to help explain that. Granted that this might be the last wave from Mattel's DC Multiverse line before the license goes off to McFarlane Toys next year, Mattel definitely didn't end it with a bang considering something like this was part of it. Anyway, as usual, before I end the review, I got this figure via special order from Xeno Toys.
| Special: |
Now you're probably thinking, the VS series will be a one sided comparison since I've been pretty much downing this figure for most of this review but to my surprise, comparing the two actually makes me see the pros and cons of each figure. Click on the photo below to jump to the comparison review!
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