McFarlane Toys DC Multiverse Blue Beetle and Booster Gold review

While I was well versed in the Justice League through Superfriends, Challenge of the Superfriends and Super Powers, it wasn’t until the Justice League International era that I was getting new issues each month. My first issue was when Booster Gold was foisted on the team by Maxwell Lord. Blue Beetle found a kindred spirit and the rest was history.

As a sucker for the Bwah-haha era of the Justice League, I’m down for just about any figure incarnation of that squad. I didn’t expect McFarlane Toys to come through with JLI figures since he’s so focused on cranking out so many Batman variants, but he delivered.

Using the Blue Beetle & Booster Gold: Blue and Gold mini-series as the contemporary hook for this set, McFarlane found a legit way to get these fan favorite characters into the line.

Let’s see if they’ll be standouts in the DC Multiverse or relics better left in the 80s.

Packaging: McFarlane Toys has stayed consistent with the packaging presentation with no alterations from the first wave.

The deluxe set up is a bit more interesting though as the interior backdrop isn’t just the generic one used in the solo figures. It features art style from the comic while the rear shows off the blue and gold duo from another series — note Booster’s classic collar.

Likeness: The figures are based off their appearance in Blue and Gold. fortunately for Blue Beetle, that means using the same classic outfit as always.

In a rarity for the Multiverse line, McFarlane decided not to add any extra elements to the costume. There’s no needless paneling, tech elements or any extras…for the most part. Beetle’s simple, classic look is well represented here in figure form.

His head sculpt is also solid with a nice comforting smile that’s perfectly keeping with Beetle’s portrayal in the comics.

Booster has his modern outfit, which is fine. It’s not like this is Booster’s armored costume from Justice League Task Force (shudder). Booster has a terrific head sculpt with a big cheesy grin befitting a superhero seeking sponsorship.

 

He uses the exact same body as Beetle right down to the boots, which have a sculpted line/articulation break point. Just as weird, McFarlane sculpted the boot crest section above the boot break point.

I suppose the intent is to distract from the sculpted boot line while trying to be accurate to the source material and not creating an entirely new sculpt.

The biggest issue with both Booster and Beetle is the goggles/visor. They should be translucent so we could see their eyes.

That’s a signature element of two of the most expressive characters in the DCU.

Scale: Booster and Beetle are typically portrayed as the same height though some artists tend to make Booster taller.

Booster has a slightly larger head, which does make him a little taller than Beetle. Sadly, they’re way too tall with both taller than the Gold Label Martian Manhunter, who’s pretty much a perfect figure in the line besides being too short. And they’re just about eye level with Superman — not good.

Paint:  I rarely have problems with paintwork on McFarlane’s DC figures. That’s the case with these two as well as the paint jobs were nice and clean.

I was a little worried about the line work on Beetle’s chest beetle design would be a problem, but they were sharp and didn’t have any fuzziness or oversprays at all.

Booster was equally competently done although I do have a gripe with his paint on a more specific note. His costume is typically colored as a royal blue and gold. McFarlane went with a midnight blue and yellow.

It’s got the color contrast down, but a more vibrant blue and a golden shade of yellow would have popped even stronger. Maybe that’s a Gold Label (bwahaha) repaint with the old school costume release down the road?

Articulation: Beetle is definitely more of a melee fighter using his acrobatic skills to stay ahead of his opponents.

Booster attacks from range but isn’t afraid to get up close in combat either.

The mold allows for pretty fluid movement for both skill sets and they’re a lot of fun to pose.

Blue Beetle and Booster Gold have:

• neck
• ball-jointed shoulders [with pop up/down point]
• elbow
• wrist
• wrist hinge
• torso
• waist
• hip
• thigh
• knee
• ankle
• toe

Accessories: McFarlane Toys doesn’t tend to go big with accessories for this line, but we got more than the norm with this deluxe set. There’s a base with a tech-type base. It’s a thin strip and doesn’t have much depth to it. The foot pegs seem a tad too small making it harder to plug the figures into it.

Of course, we get the standard McFarlane foot pegs, which do a lot better job securing the figures and providing some stability for poses. There’s also the trading cards with bios for both characters.

Beetle gets his signature BB Gun. The sculpt is accurate to the large, can-shaped barrel although it has a beetle shaped grapple hook and line shooting out.

In the comics, the gun was used as a flare device or to shoot compressed air. I guess the no guns with toys mandate forced McFarlane to get creative?

Booster gets a bit more on the accessory front. He has a cell phone to capture his exploits and to shoot selfies after knocking out some low level threats. McFarlane also did Booster fans a solid by including his robot drone Skeets.

Unlike the DC Classics version, which plugged into Booster’s back, this Skeets plugs into the included base. Ideally, Skeets could be detached from the pole or have a higher one so he can be positioned eye to “eye” with Booster instead of being at ankle level.

 

Finally, Booster gets a laser blast effect with a nice blue translucent energy blast. I’d love for MT to have included a second one blast effect to match the card art.

Worth it? McFarlane Toys stayed at the $20 price tag right up until the latest pre-orders for 2023. The regular price for this set was $40 staying consistent with that $20 value, but I was able to take advantage of a Target clearance and got the set for $20.

Getting both figures for $10 each was a great deal.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

The biggest issues with these guys are the opaque goggles and their scale. I wouldn’t mind a vintage Booster with a classic take on Skeets either.

Where to get it?  I got the set from Target, but you can also go online and grab them from Entertainment Earth.