Funko POP Constantine DC Super Heroes 255 (Free Comic Book Day Edition)

If you've read my posts for a while, you'll know that I'm an avid collector of all things Hellblazer.  So when Hellblazer main character John Constantine started showing up in both the TV series Legends of Tomorrow and in the DC Animated Universe, I naturally readied myself for a stream of new merchandise.  And while there's certainly been some (as my archives can attest), there hadn't been a Funko figure until just a couple of months ago.

It was much to my irritation that the figure ended up being released as a limited run edition of 20,000 (sold in comic shops on Free Comic Book Day, 4 May, 2019), because while I'm happy with my one Pop of Constantine, with a minor paint job, the design would also be perfect as Pete Wisdom (a Marvel Comics character with a similar style but with black hair and coat).  And while I'd be happy to customize a regular release, the idea of paying extra for a limited run figure just to turn it into something else just isn't something I'm comfortable doing.

But either way, let's take a look at this one!

SooSoo Toys Paranormal Detective (John Constantine by another name)

Being unboxed today is a non-licensed (but clearly brand-inspired) figure from SooSoo Toys. SooSoo Toys produces 1/6th scale multi-jointed action figures (the same scale as both the similar style Hot Toys figures and standard Barbies). Their bodies general have between 15 and 17 points of articulation, generally come with multi-piece fabric outfits, and retail in the range of $130-$160 USD.

The figure I bought is named "Paranormal Detective" but is clearly meant to be the DC Comics character John Constantine.  The box art and head sculpt are very clearly designed to resemble Matt Ryan, the actor who plays the character on the TV series "Legends of Tomorrow" (and who played him in the short-lived series "Constantine" and who voices the same character in the animated films "Justice League Dark" and "Constantine: City of Demons"). If you've followed the blog for a while you'll know that I'm always drawn to Hellblazer/Constantine collectibles.

DC Comics Bombshells The Batwoman from Funko's Rock Candy line

Being unboxed today is the final figure that I mentioned in my "incoming toys of 2018" summary, A vinyl figurine of Batwoman (in her DC Bombshells form) from Funko's Rock Candy line.

The Rock Candy line is a series of 5 inch/13cm character figures which are more detailed and more proportional when compared to the Funko Pop line. T line was originally dedicated exclusively to female characters (at launch the tagline was "“the most powerful women around" and consisted of superheroine and Barbie characters). The line has since expanded and some recent releases in the line have been male. Each single-piece figure comes with a clear circular stand.

I mentioned the DC Bombshells version of the DC Universe characters when I reviewed my Tonner Batwoman Doll, but for those who are unfamiliar with the sub-brand, these are essentially 1940s-style pinup versions of the characters.

The figures are generally offered for sale at prices between $10 and $15 USD.

Let's take a closer look!

Yet Another John Constantine Mini-Figure

I was reading comic book reviews when I noticed a mention that an animated film version of Justice League Dark had been produced. Being a bit of a fan of the comics, I went to check it out - and discovered that the deluxe edition came with a vinyl figure of John Constantine. So of course I bought that one. Let's take a look!

Random Toy of the Day: Batgirl (DC Super Hero Girls)

Since I've already reviewed the Bumblebee figure from this line, I don't have much to say about Batgirl here, but I did want to share a photo of her today.

Batgirl reads Batgirl.

Hard to believe that it's August already - I hope you're all having a good summer (or winter, for the folks in the southern hemisphere)!

Random Toys of the Day: Heroclix Midnighter, Apollo and Jenny Quantum

Apollo, Jenny Quantum, Midnighter

A while ago I realized that I've never shared any photos of my Heroclix game pieces outside of a few background appears in size comparison shots, so I thought I'd start to remedy that and take a few of them outside from some photo time.  They're fairly straightforward, so I won't do a full review, but I still wanted to give them some attention.

Heroclix figures are usually around 3cm in height, making them between 1/43 and 1/45 scale (also known as model railroad scale). The game that these pieces are used in is a grid-based board game - there are hundreds of game pieces available from dozens of different franchises. While I'm not a board game person, the variety of character figures that are available means that I have picked up several none-the-less.

Out of the Box: Green Lantern & Cyborg (Hero Plug & Play)

Out of the box today are the two figures that I mentioned in my Discount Shopping Adventures - two game piece figures of Green Lantern and Cyborg. As mentioned in that post, I found them at Tuesday Morning for $2.99, although apparently they normally retail for as high as $12.99 (although $9.99 seems to be the more common price).

DC Super Heroes: The Watchtower is a Plug & Play game that seems to have a similar theme to  the more well-know Skylanders or Disney Infinity games in that they involve attaching different character figures to a base that communicates with the game.  These figures are smaller and lighter than most of the ones from those other games though, and reminded me a little of Heroclix figures (although they are quite a bit larger than those ones).

Let's open up the box!

Out of the Box: Eaglemoss Hellblazer/John Constantine

We got a break from the rain today, so I took advantage of the dry-but-overcast weather to take some photos of the newest member of my Hellblazer collection, an Eaglemoss figurine.

Eaglemoss puts out 1:21 scale die-cast lead figurines from a variety of genre/media franchises (I've posted about my Eaglemoss Captain Britain figure here before), and allows buyers to purchase subscriptions to their lines.  Each figure also comes with a biographical magazine featuring the character of the month. On their own, the figures usually retail for between $15 and $25 USD.

Personally, my interests are too narrow for a subscription, so I've always waited for the reviews to come in and then picked up the ones I wanted on the secondary market. Since I've never wanted to pay a premium for any of them, that often means waiting forever until a deal comes along - but this time I lucked out and found this one at a reasonable price on eBay the first time I looked!

Out of the Box: Batwoman (Tonner's DC Bombshells Series)

Batwoman

Even though I'm always complaining about the hinge-jointed knees on dolls from Tonner, every now and then they release something that overrides my aversion.  This time the exception is Batwoman from their DC Bomshells line.  While the original retail price ($179.99 USD) struck me as being too high, when the doll popped up on Zulily at a decent discount I decided to pick her up.

The DC Bombshells line included three characters (Batwoman, Wonder Woman, Harley Quinn and Supergirl), each designed to have a 1940s pin-up style version of their traditional costume. For whatever reason, Batwoman's outfit is baseball themed, which seems a bit like a silly pun (she has a baseball bat, because she's the bat-woman, buh da bump!), but at least it got her some interesting accessories.

Out of the Box: DC Super Hero Girls Bumblebee

The DC Super Hero Girls are a cartoon that involves teenaged versions of heroes and villains from DC comics in a high school setting.  Full disclosure: I haven't watched it, but even so it's been hard to miss the merchandise.  Mattel has put out two versions of the six main characters (Wonder Woman, Supergirl, Batgirl, Bumblebee, Harley Quinn) - an action figure and a fashion doll (which is being branded as an action doll).

This line seems to be bringing up a lot of the old discussions about the line between dolls and action figures (and about gendered toy marketing), which I'm thinking about making a separate post about, since it's such a huge topic.  But in the meantime, let's take a look at the action figure version of Bumblebee. I'd actually planned on picking up Batgirl, but they'd actually sold out of every other figure at my local store - although they still had all the dolls, which makes me wonder if the figures are benefiting from more of a crossover market.

Out of the Box: Justice League Dark John Constantine (DC Collectibles)

Being unboxed today is the action figure counterpart to the John Constantine statue that I opened a couple of weeks ago.  As mentioned in that post, I do own the old DC Direct figure, but as he's in storage back in Canada I won't be able to compare the two directly.  That said, I can confirm that this new figure has much more detailed sculpting and much more impressive articulation.

As far as I can tell, this wasn't a terribly popular release: I first noticed this guy at my local comic book shop about a year ago with an asking price of $25USD, and he seems to have languished there ever since.  Every now and then I'd consider picking him up, but having been disappointed in the quality of DC's figures before I held off, until I noticed an online sale that had him listed for a 66% discount.  Even then I waited a week before clicking the buy button - but in the end I gave in and this review is the result!

Out of the Box: John Constantine (DC Collectibles)

I have a few of the Hellblazer-related collectibles from the late '90s in storage (you can see the DC Direct action figure in the background of the introductory photo from my first ever post on this blog), but not being a fan of the non-Vertigo/post New 52 version of the character (and I still haven't gotten around to checking out the full run of last year's TV series), I haven't picked up anything new for years.  But having recently reread Peter Milligan's run on the old series, I was weakened by nostalgia and when I saw a sale on the new John Constantine statue from DC Collectibles on Big Bay Toystore, I ended up ordering this statue.

Before I get into the review, can I just take a minute to complain about some of the box openings I watched while waiting for this statue to ship? Nearly all of them call John a Londoner (one even referred to him as a "Cockney magician") - but the character is supposed to be from Liverpool! 

*ahem* But never mind that, on with the figure!